Description

Comparative political theory is at best an embryonic and marginalized endeavor. As practiced in most Western universities, the study of political theory generally involves a rehearsal of the canon of Western political thought from Plato to Marx. Only rarely are practitioners of political thought willing (and professionally encouraged) to transgress the canon and thereby the cultural boundaries of North America and Europe in the direction of genuine comparative investigation.
Border Crossings presents an effort to remedy this situation, fully launching a new era in political theory. Thirteen scholars from around the world examine the various political traditions of West, South, and East Asia and engage in a reflective cross-cultural discussion that belies the assumptions of an Asian "essence" and of an unbridgeable gulf between West and non-West. The denial of essential differences does not, however, amount to an endorsement of essential sameness. As viewed and as practiced by contributors to this ground-breaking volume, comparative political theorizing must steer a course between uniformity and radical separation-this is the path of "border crossings."

Table of Contents

Part 1 Introduction: Toward a Comparative Political Theory
Chapter 2 Mapping Modernities, "Islamic" and "Western"
Chapter 3 Eastern Veiling, Western Freedom?
Chapter 4 Islamic Constitutionalism and the Concept of Democracy
Chapter 5 Rewriting Contemporary Muslim Politics: A Twentieth-Century Periodization
Chapter 6 Symbolic and Utilitarian Value of a Tradition: Martyrdom in the Iranian Political Culture
Chapter 7 Radical Islam and Nonviolence: A Case Study of Religious Empowerment and Constraint
Chapter 8 Indian Secularism and Its Critics: Some Reflections
Chapter 9 Confucianism and Communitarianism in a Liberal Democratic World
Chapter 10 Confucianism with a Liberal Face: Democratic Politics in Postcolonial Taiwan
Chapter 11 Beyond "East and West": Nishida's Universalism and Postcolonial Critique
Chapter 12 Taoist Politics: An Other Way?
Chapter 13 Postmodernity, Eurocentrism, and the Future of Political Philosophy

Product details

Published Aug 25 1999
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Extent 328
ISBN 9780739152546
Imprint Lexington Books
Series Global Encounters: Studies in Comparative Political Theory
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Related Titles

Environment: Staging