Incalculable Community
(2015) In Lund Political Studies- Abstract
- This thesis argues that the Western thinking of political community has assumed the community to require a unity or unifying principle that serves as delineation. It suggests that sameness, reflected in history, space, language, or reason, has been assumed as the condition of possibility of the political community. Consequently, a particular identity is made a prerequisite for membership and vouches for the sameness of the community, which, in turn, ascertains that unifying delineations are upheld. Since sameness is either established against, or productive of difference, the thesis maintains that any attempts to broaden the scope for inclusion will give rise to new externalities, as long as sameness continues to be assumed as the... (More)
- This thesis argues that the Western thinking of political community has assumed the community to require a unity or unifying principle that serves as delineation. It suggests that sameness, reflected in history, space, language, or reason, has been assumed as the condition of possibility of the political community. Consequently, a particular identity is made a prerequisite for membership and vouches for the sameness of the community, which, in turn, ascertains that unifying delineations are upheld. Since sameness is either established against, or productive of difference, the thesis maintains that any attempts to broaden the scope for inclusion will give rise to new externalities, as long as sameness continues to be assumed as the condition of possibility for the community.
The aim of the thesis is twofold, on the one hand, it critically assesses attempts to widen the meaning and reach for political belonging and discusses how remaining within the framework of a community predicated on sameness makes it difficult for these attempts to live up to their aspirations. On the other hand, the thesis has also a hermeneutical and normative approach in that it seeks to divert the thinking of political community from assumptions of calculability, unity, and boundedness. Since both the sameness of the own and the difference of the other are predicated on an assumption of identity, the thesis approaches this task with the aim to develop a notion of sameness that does not presuppose difference and a notion of difference that does not presuppose identity.
Doing this, the thesis engages in close readings of texts in democratic theory, citizenship theory, pluralist engagements with the problem of unity and delineation, and continental philosophy. It argues that in order to confront the problem of closure and exclusion, the question of political co-existence needs to be reformulated and relocated so as to grasp the meaning of an incalculable community. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Denna avhandling diskuterar hur en föreställning om enhet har präglat västerländskt politiskt tänkande om politisk gemenskap. Den visar att ett antagande om likhet, återspeglad i tid, rum, språk och rationalitet, har setts som en förutsättning för politisk gemenskap. Antagandet om likhet innebär att varje försök att utvidga gemenskapen ger upphov till nya exkluderingar och skillnader. I avhandlingen beskrivs den här likhetsproblematiken på två sätt, dels i relation till skillnad, dels i relation till gemenskapstankens upplevda behov av beräkning.
Avhandlingen har ett tvådelat syfte. Å ena sidan diskuterar den försöken inom västerländskt politiskt tänkande att bredda den... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Denna avhandling diskuterar hur en föreställning om enhet har präglat västerländskt politiskt tänkande om politisk gemenskap. Den visar att ett antagande om likhet, återspeglad i tid, rum, språk och rationalitet, har setts som en förutsättning för politisk gemenskap. Antagandet om likhet innebär att varje försök att utvidga gemenskapen ger upphov till nya exkluderingar och skillnader. I avhandlingen beskrivs den här likhetsproblematiken på två sätt, dels i relation till skillnad, dels i relation till gemenskapstankens upplevda behov av beräkning.
Avhandlingen har ett tvådelat syfte. Å ena sidan diskuterar den försöken inom västerländskt politiskt tänkande att bredda den politiska tillhörighetens innebörd och visar att dessa försök inte lyckas leva upp till sina ambitioner om ökad inkludering. Detta eftersom de formuleras inom ramen för en gemenskap vilandes på likhet. Å andra sidan har avhandlingen en tolkande och normativ ambition, då den söker undkomma likhet som grund för gemenskapen. Här är syftet att utveckla en förståelse av likhet som inte förutsätter skillnad, men också en förståelse av skillnad som inte bygger på ett antagande om identitet.
Genom nära läsningar av texter i demokratiteori, medborgarskapsteori, pluralistisk politisk teori och kontinentalfilosofi konfronterar avhandlingen problematiken med gränsdragning och exkludering. Avhandlingen visar också att frågan om politisk samexistens kräver en omformulering av gemenskapens rumslighet och arbetar fram en förståelse av oräknelig gemenskap som inte är grundad i ett antagande om likhet. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4882544
- author
- Pettersson, Jonna LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Associate Professor Toender, Lars, University of Melbourne
- organization
- publishing date
- 2015
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Community, Sameness, Citizenship, Democracy, Space, Continental philosophy
- in
- Lund Political Studies
- issue
- 174
- pages
- 247 pages
- publisher
- Lund University
- defense location
- Edens hörsal, Paradisgata 5 H, Lund
- defense date
- 2015-01-23 13:00:00
- ISBN
- 978-91-7623-209-5
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c7f67db8-d606-476c-a192-88d11f160cb8 (old id 4882544)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 09:07:28
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 14:48:34
@phdthesis{c7f67db8-d606-476c-a192-88d11f160cb8,
abstract = {{This thesis argues that the Western thinking of political community has assumed the community to require a unity or unifying principle that serves as delineation. It suggests that sameness, reflected in history, space, language, or reason, has been assumed as the condition of possibility of the political community. Consequently, a particular identity is made a prerequisite for membership and vouches for the sameness of the community, which, in turn, ascertains that unifying delineations are upheld. Since sameness is either established against, or productive of difference, the thesis maintains that any attempts to broaden the scope for inclusion will give rise to new externalities, as long as sameness continues to be assumed as the condition of possibility for the community.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The aim of the thesis is twofold, on the one hand, it critically assesses attempts to widen the meaning and reach for political belonging and discusses how remaining within the framework of a community predicated on sameness makes it difficult for these attempts to live up to their aspirations. On the other hand, the thesis has also a hermeneutical and normative approach in that it seeks to divert the thinking of political community from assumptions of calculability, unity, and boundedness. Since both the sameness of the own and the difference of the other are predicated on an assumption of identity, the thesis approaches this task with the aim to develop a notion of sameness that does not presuppose difference and a notion of difference that does not presuppose identity.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Doing this, the thesis engages in close readings of texts in democratic theory, citizenship theory, pluralist engagements with the problem of unity and delineation, and continental philosophy. It argues that in order to confront the problem of closure and exclusion, the question of political co-existence needs to be reformulated and relocated so as to grasp the meaning of an incalculable community.}},
author = {{Pettersson, Jonna}},
isbn = {{978-91-7623-209-5}},
keywords = {{Community; Sameness; Citizenship; Democracy; Space; Continental philosophy}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{174}},
publisher = {{Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Political Studies}},
title = {{Incalculable Community}},
year = {{2015}},
}