Empire as a Subject for Philosophy (Polis, Imperium, Cosmopolis) (Philosophy, 2019) (original) (raw)
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The disappearance of the concept of empire
The Empire is a wife without dowry, a resounding and majestic word that is neither of any use nor any advantage. Neither Ferdinand II nor any of his predecessors possessed any province, any fortress, or even a palace in the entire empire in his capacity as Emperor.
2003
The book, Empire, like Foucault's thought on power, takes its aim at the heart of the present. Also like his thought, it is an event as much as a theory. It not only offers analysis and diagnosis but also hopes to have effects in the present and to establish linkages with social and political struggles. This article compares the analysis in Empire with Foucault's thought, particularly on the points where Empire claims to draw on his work. Where Hardt and Negri approach their task by means of a realist account of the mutation of power relations and a teleological philosophy of history with strong dialectical elements, Foucault's nominalist critique seems to aim in the opposite direction in that it confronts regimes of truth with their historical conditions and effects. Despite its efforts to incorporate Foucault's insights, Empires disregards the importance of singularities and the genealogical trajectories of modern technologies of government.
The present book is the result of the conference ‘Renovatio, inventio, absentia imperii. From the Roman Empire to Contemporary Imperialism’, held in Brussels at the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Academia Belgica in Rome (September 11-13, 2014). At the heart of the conference was the ‘reception’, ‘Nachleben’ or ‘permanence’ of the Roman Empire, of an idea and a historical paradigm which since classical Antiquity has supported the most widespread claims to obtain and consolidate power. The volume’s focus is on culture in a broad sense, i.e. including besides the arts, philosophy, religion and, most importantly, discourse. As such, a wide array of themes are subjected to academic scrutiny. Whereas the main focus is on Europe and North America, some contributors also reach out towards non-Western contexts, whether or not directly related to the Roman example. A theoretical and sociological dimension is also added thanks to the discussion on methodological issues. More specifically, the following question(s) receive particular attention: what is our position as researchers, embedded in a contemporary, often Western, democratic and capitalist context; what about the notion of empire itself, its constituent elements and the kind of ideological prerogatives to which it is generally subjected; in other words, apart from the many historical variants and instances of reception of empire, through which filters can, and inevitably do, we approach this topic? A question that has become ever more pregnant since the beginning of the twenty-first century, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the events of September 11, which have revivified what could be called American ‘imperialism’, and at a time when an essentially economic variant, driven by ‘emerging’ powers such as China, has increasingly contested existing power structures. In light of such meta-historical awareness, this book touches as much on the nature of the Roman Empire as it does on its historical legacy and, more importantly so, on who claims the latter inheritance throughout the most diverse epochs. By discussing some highly contrasting views upon this topic, participants explore issues that are of fundamental importance to the writing, not only of cultural history, but also of history itself.
Empire as a Geopolitical Figure Empire as a Geopolitical Figure
This article analyses the ingredients of empire as a pattern of order with geopolitical effects. Noting the imperial form's proclivity for expansion from a critical reading of historical sociology, the article argues that the principal manifestation of earlier geopolitics lay not in the nation but in empire. That in turn has been driven by a view of the world as disorderly and open to the ordering will of empires (emanating, at the time of geopolitics' inception, from Europe). One implication is that empires are likely to figure in the geopolitical ordering of the globe at all times, in particular after all that has happened in the late twentieth century to undermine nationalism and the national state. Empire is indeed a probable, even for some an attractive form of regime for extending order over the disorder produced by globalisation. Geopolitics articulated in imperial expansion is likely to be found in the present and in the future-the EU, and still more obviously the USA exhibiting the form in contemporary guise. This does not mean that empires figure in geopolitics simply by extending their own order, however; they are at least as much purveyors of other dynamics and orders, which possess their own discrete effects. The article ends with stipulations regarding the variety of forms that empires may take: neither fully bounded nor centred; neither straightforwardly self-serving nor easily made legitimate.
Political Theory of Empire and Imperialism
Annual Review of Political Science, 2010
The past decade has seen a spate of new work on empire in political theory and the history of political thought. Much of this work has focused on the place of empire in the thought of many canonical thinkers and in the formation of modern liberalism and related arenas, such as postcolonial settler societies and the discipline of international law.
Empire and the state: a critical theoretical assessment
Australian Journal of International Affairs, 2006
In recent years there has been increasing use of the term 'empire' to describe US primacy in world affairs. This should not be viewed merely as an indictment of US power: there are genuine insights to be gained from the study of imperial formations in contemporary politics. Yet there remains confusion and disagreement over the true meaning of 'empire'. Progressive schools of thought in the academic discipline of international relations can facilitate a fresh understanding of 'empire'*/ one that is suited to the complexities of the contemporary global scene.