Elisabetta Brighi | University of Westminster (original) (raw)

Books by Elisabetta Brighi

What is the relationship between the sacred and the political, transcendence and immanence, relig... more What is the relationship between the sacred and the political, transcendence and immanence, religion and violence? And how has this complex relation affected the history of Western political reason? In this volume an international group of scholars explore these questions in light of mimetic theory as formulated by René Girard (1923-2015), one of the most original thinkers of our time. From Aristotle and his idea of tragedy, passing through Machiavelli and political modernity, up to contemporary biopolitics, this work provides an indispensable guide to those who want to assess the thorny interconnections of sacrality and politics in Western political thought and follow an unexplored yet critical path from ancient Greece to our post-secular condition. While looking at the past, this volume also seeks to illuminate the future relevance of the sacred/secular divide in the so-called 'age of globalization'. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-sacred-and-the-political-9781628925968/#sthash.Vg5YHi32.dpuf

(London: Routledge, 2009)

Drafts by Elisabetta Brighi

in Pessimism inInternational Relations, eds. Tim Stevens and Nick Michelsen

in 'L’Egitto, l’Europa e il caso Regeni', a cura di Lorenzo Casini e Daniela Melfa.

Papers by Elisabetta Brighi

Politics Trove

This chapter examines the ‘implementation phase’ of foreign policy making — that is, the period i... more This chapter examines the ‘implementation phase’ of foreign policy making — that is, the period in which decisions are translated into action. It first considers the theoretical problems involved in deciding where a foreign policy action ends and its environment begins. It then explores the range of problems encountered by states when trying to implement their foreign policies, as well as the instruments — diplomatic, military, economic, and cultural — at their disposal. In particular, it explains the distinction between power as a means and power as a context. It concludes by highlighting the endless loops that connect — and blur together — ends and means in foreign policy, along with the key lessons which practitioners need to bear in mind. The chapter argues that foreign policy decisions are best understood through the strategic–relational model.

Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 2016

Introducing Pragmatism to International Relations Harry Bauer and Elisabetta Brighi Where is Inte... more Introducing Pragmatism to International Relations Harry Bauer and Elisabetta Brighi Where is International Relations (IR) going? Almost a century after its foundation, and more than two decades into the so-called 'post-Cold War era', it would be hard to look at the landscape of IR and ...

378. 421 LON LSE-his, London School of Economics and Political Science, Intelectuales Ingleses, A... more 378. 421 LON LSE-his, London School of Economics and Political Science, Intelectuales Ingleses, Académicos Ingleses, Relaciones Internacionales-Londres, Inglaterra-Estudio y Enseñanza, Política Internacional-Estudio y Enseñanza, Departamentos Universitarios-...

(London: Routledge, 2009)

in Pessimism inInternational Relations, eds. Tim Stevens and Nick Michelsen

in 'L’Egitto, l’Europa e il caso Regeni', a cura di Lorenzo Casini e Daniela Melfa.

Politics Trove

Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 2016

The International Spectator, 2016

The authors wish to thank the Conference participants for their questions and observations. For t... more The authors wish to thank the Conference participants for their questions and observations. For their constructive comments and pointed criticisms, we would also like to thank Fabio Petito, Roberto Toscano, the Journal's two anonymous referees and a diplomat who wishes to remain anonymous.

in 'Contagion', Special Issue: Mimetic Theory and Psychoanalysis

In his recent book, Age of Anger, Pankaj Mishra considers the un-coordinated bursts of violence t... more In his recent book, Age of Anger, Pankaj Mishra considers the un-coordinated bursts of violence that have punctuated the world since the fall of the Berlin Wall as tangible manifestations of the latest wave of crisis in liberal modernity. Rather than fostering peace and prosperity across the globe, he argues, the economic globalization of the last half century has created a claustrophobic and unequal world populated by frustrated individuals prone to anger and revenge. In particular, resentment was recently defined as the dominant mood of our age. More and more often, according to commentators such as Marco Belpoliti, individuals feel a sense of animosity towards others, towards the world in general, that stems from a wrong, offence, affront or frustration which the individual has or has perceived to have suffered.
Beyond resentment, Peter Sloterdijk wrote of the recent return of another forgotten thymotic element, namely rage. After decades of suppression or attempted transcendence, the ongoing economic crisis and recrudescence of global terrorism have demonstrated the centrality of rage as well as its potential role in revolutions and emancipatory political struggles. Finally, Martha Nussbaum has also agreed that anger has once again become not just ubiquitous but also ‘popular’. Yet, she is much less convinced that negative emotions such as resentment and rage have a role to play in democratic politics. Are we truly living in an age of resentment? And where does this negative emotion sit within René Girard’s mimetic theory? In this paper I will argue, firstly, that resentment emerges as an important affect within mimetic theory, one intimately linked to Girard’s understanding of the triangular nature of desire and the perversely imitative dynamics sitting at its heart. Girard’s reading of resentment does indeed illuminate aspects of our global modern condition. However, I will also argue that Girard’s conceptualisation of resentment is somewhat narrow when it collapses resentment into ressentiment. In so doing, it not only obscures alternative generative mechanisms of resentment whose imitative import is limited, but it also negates the political value of resentment. Resentment can stem not only from highly mimetic forms of identifications, but can emerge as something other than the mere operations of envy and mimetic rivalry. Not all resentment, in other words, is about ressentiment. As I argue below, this matters not only in conceptual and theoretical terms, but also in political terms – the way in which one escapes or transcends resentment is different depending on whether this is a mimetic or anti-mimetic sentiment.