Cornelius Castoriadis: The Imaginary Institution of Society (1975/1987)
Filed under book | Tags: · communism, marxism, ontology, philosophy, psychoanalysis, representation, socialism, society
This is one of the most original and important works of contemporary European thought. First published in France in 1975, it is the major theoretical work of one of the foremost thinkers in Europe.
Castoriadis offers a brilliant and far-reaching analysis of the unique character of the social-historical world and its relations to the individual, to language and to nature. He argues that the most traditional conceptions of society and history overlook the essential feature of the social-historical world, namely that this world is not articulated once and for all but is in each case the creation of the society concerned. In emphasizing the element of creativity, Castoriadis opens the way for rethinking political theory and practice in terms of the autonomous and explicit self-institution of society.
Castoriadis’ wide-ranging discussion deals with many issues which are currently topical in the English-speaking world: the critique of Marxism; the creative and imaginary character of language; the relations between action and social institutions; the nature of the unconscious and the reappraisal of psychoanalysis; and the role of symbolism on both the individual and the social levels. This book will be of great interest to anyone concerned with social and political theory and contemporary European thought.
First published as L’institution imaginaire de la société, by Les Editions du Seuil.
This English translation first published 1987 by Polity Press in association with Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Translated by Kathleen Blamey
Publisher Polity Press, May 1997
Reprinted 2005
ISBN: 9780745619507, 0745619509
448 pages
Ivan Illich: Tools for Conviviality (1973–) [EN, DE]
Filed under book | Tags: · critique of technology, economy, industrial society, industry, politics, society, technology
“Ivan Illich has aroused worldwide attention as a formidable critic of some of society’s most cherished institutions – organized religion, the medical profession, compulsory education for all.
In Tools for Conviviality he carries further his profound questioning of modern industrial society by showing how mass-production technologies are turning people into the accessories of bureaucracies and machines.
Tools for Conviviality was published only two years after Deschooling Society. In this new work Illich generalized the themes that he had previously applied to the field of education: the institutionalization of specialized knowledge, the dominant role of technocratic elites in industrial society, and the need to develop new instruments for the reconquest of practical knowledge by the average citizen. Illich proposed that we should ‘invert the present deep structure of tools’ in order to ‘give people tools that guarantee their right to work with independent efficiency.'”
Publisher Harper & Row, New York, 1973
World Perspective series
SBN 060121386
xxv+110 pages
Reviews: Michael G. Michaelson (New York Times Book Review, 1973), John L. Elias (CrossCurrents, 1974), John Touhey (World Affairs, 1974), Romesh Diwan (Economic & Political Weekly, 1975), Galye Avant (American Political Science Review, 1975).
Tools for Conviviality (English, 1973, 4 MB, added on 2019-10-1; HTML)
Tools for Conviviality (English, 1975, 2 MB, updated on 2019-10-1)
Selbstbegrenzung. Eine politische Kritik der Technik (German, trans. Ylva Eriksson-Kuchenbuch, 1975/1998, added on 2019-10-1)
Mohammed A. Bamyeh: Anarchy as Order: The History and Future of Civic Humanity (2009)
Filed under book | Tags: · anarchism, civil society, commons, democracy, freedom, politics, society
This original and impressively researched book explores the concept of anarchy—”unimposed order”—as the most humane and stable form of order in a chaotic world. Mohammed A. Bamyeh traces the historical foundations of anarchy and convincingly presents it as an alternative to both tyranny and democracy. He shows how anarchy is the best manifestation of civic order, of a healthy civil society, and of humanity’s noblest attributes. The author contends that humanity thrives on self-regulation rather than imposed order, that large systems are inherently more prone to tyranny than small systems, that power is the enemy of freedom, and that freedom and community are complementary rather than opposing values. He concludes that a more rational world is produced not by delegated representatives but by direct participation in common affairs.
Bamyeh offers a concise philosophy of anarchy in the context of war, civil society, global order, experiences of freedom, solidarity, the evolution of modern states, and tax systems. He distinguishes anarchy from more familiar ways of thinking about the relationship between state and society that highlight the importance of power and control for social order. Further, he argues that the necessity for expert guidance or social collaboration in some areas of common public life does not require such areas to be run by a grand, overarching, or representative state. A cogent and compelling critique of the modern state, this provocative book clarifies how anarchy may be both a guide for rational social order and a science of humanity.
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield, 2009
World Social Change series
ISBN 0742556735, 9780742556737
241 pages
review (David Baronov)
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