Everyday Life and the State'Peter Bratsis breaks new ground, forcing us to think of the connections between big structures and our most intimate inner lives. A fascinating and erudite book.' -Frances Fox Piven, CUNY Nearly four centuries ago, liberal political thought asserted that the state was the product of a distant, pre-historical, social contract. Social science has done little to overcome this fiction. Even the most radical of theories have tended to remain silent on the question of the production of the state, preferring instead to focus on the determinations and functions of state actions. Bratsis argues that the causes of the state are to be found within everyday life. Building upon insights from social, political, and anthropological theories, his book shows how the repetitions and habits of our daily lives lead to our nationalization and the perception of certain interests and institutions as 'public.' Bratsis shows that only by seeking the state's everyday, material causes can we free ourselves from the pitfalls of viewing the state as natural, inevitable, and independent from social relations. |
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Contents
A cknowledgments | 1 |
The Spontaneous Theory of the State and the State | 7 |
Political Corruption as Symptom of the Public Fetish | 51 |
Copyright | |
6 other sections not shown
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Common terms and phrases
abstract Althusser Althusser's analysis ancient Greek apparatuses argued argument autonomy becomes Bob Jessop bodies doctrine body politic capitalist Castoriadis causal chapter citizen cohesion commodity exchange concept of corruption concrete concurrent constitutes contemporary culture definition discourse discussion distinction division Easton Elias enjoyment ethic everyday practices example existence explain fetish function gift Greek Americans Henri Lefebvre ICAC idea identify ideology institutions interpellation Jessop Kantorowicz Kantorowicz 1957 king libidinal value Marx Marxist material Miliband mirror stage modern national identity national individual national political community Nicos Poulantzas noted object official particular polis political corruption position Poulantzas Poulantzas's private interests problem public and private public servant public sphere public/private split question Ralph Miliband reference relation rituals rules of separation sense Shuster significant simply situation comedies Stanley Aronowitz state-idea symbolic order theorists tion understanding unity W. E. B. Du Bois Zizek
Bibliographic information
| Title | Everyday Life and the State Great Barrington Bks |
| Author | Peter Bratsis |
| Publisher | Paradigm Publishers, 2006 |
| Original from | Indiana University |
| Digitized | Apr 9, 2010 |
| ISBN | 1594512183, 9781594512186 |
| Length | 139 pages |
| Subjects | › › Political Science / History & Theory Social Science / Sociology / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |