Politics of Catastrophe

Genealogies of the Unknown

Rens Van Munster author Claudia Aradau author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:17th Apr '12

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Politics of Catastrophe cover

In Politics of Catastrophe, the author examines how unpredictable events shape governance and knowledge, urging a rethinking of political strategies in the face of impending threats.

This book explores the concept of catastrophe as a unique framework for governing unpredictable future events such as terrorism, climate change, and pandemics. These occurrences can strike suddenly and without warning, often resulting in irreversible damage. The author delves into how society has come to understand and manage these looming threats, highlighting the challenges posed by our inability to predict them accurately.

In an era where the notion of catastrophe has become a defining aspect of our collective consciousness, the text examines how anticipatory knowledge is reshaped in response to an ever-present sense of impending doom. While it shares similarities with crises, disasters, and risks, Politics of Catastrophe posits that true catastrophes expose the limitations of our knowledge and management strategies. The politics surrounding these events are oriented towards an uncertain future that must be imagined and engaged with to become comprehensible and actionable.

This critical assessment of emerging practices in understanding and governing future catastrophes invites readers to reconsider conventional approaches. It challenges the audience to explore the potential for alternative political frameworks that can better address the complexities and uncertainties of catastrophic events. Students and scholars in fields such as critical security studies, risk theory, political theory, and International Relations will find this book particularly insightful.

'[The authors] offer cutting and quite thrilling critiques of Western security practices - theoretically adept and beautifully written, they are at the forefron of exciting new research to come.' - Peter Adey, Radical Philosophy, 176, November/December 2012

‘This book advances our understanding of the complex and often paradoxical terrain of the catastrophe as a field of knowledge and target of anticipatory governance. In doing so, its authors stand at the forefront of new thinking about contemporary regimes of security, power and governmentality.’ - Mitchell Dean, University of Newcastle, Australia

'This excellent volume is the first book-length engagement with the implications of catastrophe for contemporary practices of security governing. It is an important contribution to our current understandings of the politics of preemption, and it is indispensable reading for anyone interested in the contemporary logic of security and securitization.' - Mariek de Goede, University of Amsterdam

'[T]his is a well-crafted and historically grounded comparative study that makes a welcomed and valuable contribution to the literature on foreign policy Europeanization and Europe−Latin America relations. Highly recommended for practitioners, students and scholars alike.'- Antonio Raimundo, NICPRI-University of Minho, Portugal

'In addition to the discussion of emergent ways of anticipating the future and positioning political subjectivity, this excellent book establishes new paths by which to appropriate catastrophe conceptually. Overall, this book works both to consolidate and seriously further our understanding of the complex relations between knowledge and what it means to govern - and be governed by - unknown futures.' Nathaniel O'Grady, Durham University, Political Theory Journal

ISBN: 9780415627382

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 272g

176 pages