Negativity and Politics Dionysus and Dialectics from Kant to Poststructuralism

Negativity and Politics is the first full-length study of the concept of negativity within philosophy and political theory. Diana Coole clearly and skilfully shows how the problem of negativity lies at the heart of philosophical and political debate. Firstly she explores the meaning of negativity as it appears in modern and postmodern thinking. Secondly, she sets out the significance of negativity for politics and our understanding of what constitutes the political. A key theme of Negativity and Politics is the recurring hostility between the dialectical use of negativity found in Hegel and running through Marxism and Critical Theory, and the Dionysian use of negativity as developed by Nietzsche and found in important strands of French thought. Diana Coole shows how the appropriation of negativity in both cases threatens but also informs our understanding of politics and the political. A fascinating and bold intervention in political theory and philosophy, Negativity and Politics will be of interest to all those in politics, philosophy and contemporary social theory.Coole, Diana H. is the author of 'Negativity and Politics Dionysus and Dialectics from Kant to Poststructuralism' with ISBN 9780415031769 and ISBN 0415031761.