Passion and Paradox Intellectuals Confront the National Question

"Is it possible to foster enough unity to cope with pressing social issues without succumbing to the exclusions of nationalism? Do those who criticize the ugliness of nationalism too often fail to compensate in other ways for the loss of its positive virtues? Joan Cocks pursues such questions in a sensitive way, putting herself into the hearts and souls of engaged intellectuals who have found themselves plagued by them. This is not only a timely and provocative book, it is written in the limpid prose we have come to expect from Cocks."--William E. Connolly, author ofNeuropolitics: Thinking, Culture, Speed "Cocks is admirably well-read, writes engagingly, and goes at intellectual problems with a real passion. Nationalism is a hot topic, and Joan Cocks opens up interesting dimensions of theoretical reflection on this essential aspect of contemporary politics."--Ronald Beiner, University of Toronto "Joan Cocks has written a gloriously old-fashioned book of political philosophy and intellectual history. There is nothing like it in a field that's replete with philosophical writings. From the beginning, it is clear that we are in the company of an accomplished and confident writer, a late-at-night quill-driver comfortable with presenting her political feelings for all to see. I constantly learned things, but more than that I enjoyed getting inside the mind of a thinker whose sensibility of engaged writing is refreshingly synthetic in a world of jostling excesses."--Paul James, Monash University, AustraliaCocks, Joan is the author of 'Passion and Paradox Intellectuals Confront the National Question' with ISBN 9780691074689 and ISBN 0691074682.