ABSTRACT

William E. Connolly’s writings have pushed the leading edge of political theory, first in North America and then in Europe as well, for more than two decades now. This book draws on his numerous influential books and articles to provide a coherent and comprehensive overview of his significant contribution to the field of political theory.

The book focuses in particular on three key areas of his thinking:

  • Democracy: his work in democratic theory – through his critical challenges to the traditions of Rawlsian theories of justice and Habermasian theories of deliberative democracy – has spurred the creation of a fertile and powerful new literature
  • Pluralism: Connolly's work utterly transformed the terrain of the field by helping to resignify pluralism: from a conservative theory of order based on the status quo into a radical theory of democratic contestation based on a progressive political vision
  • The Terms of Political Theory: Connolly has changed the language in which Anglo-American political theory is spoken, and entirely shuffled the pack with which political theorists work.

part |2 pages

Part I The theory of pluralism

chapter 1|22 pages

The challenge to pluralist theory (1969)

chapter 2|24 pages

Pluralization (1995)

chapter 3|24 pages

Fundamentalism in America (1995)

chapter 4|20 pages

Deep pluralism (2005)

chapter 5|24 pages

Post-sovereign pluralist politics (2005)

part |2 pages

Part II Agonistic democracy

chapter 7|27 pages

Agonism and liberalism (1991)

chapter 8|33 pages

Agonism and democracy (1991)

chapter 9|24 pages

Beyond the moral imperative (1993)

chapter 10|24 pages

An ethos of engagement (2000)

part |2 pages

Part III The terms of political theory

chapter 11|23 pages

Essentially contested concepts (1974)

chapter 12|14 pages

The order of modernity (1988)

chapter 13|9 pages

Taylor, Foucault, and truth (1985)

chapter 14|9 pages

White noise (2005)

chapter 15|9 pages

Twilight of the idols (1995)