Border Crossings: Toward a Comparative Political Theory

Fred Dallmayr

doi:10.5771/9780739152546

Summary

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.'

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/1999
Copyright Year: 1999
ISBN-Print: 978-0-7391-0042-4
ISBN-Online: 978-0-7391-5254-6
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 313
Product Type: Monograph

1. Contents No access
2. Acknowledgments No access
Introduction: Toward a Comparative Political Theory Fred Dallmayr No access Pages 1 - 10
1. Mapping Modernities, "Islamic" and "Western" Roxanne L. Euben No access Pages 11 - 38
2. Eastern Veiling, Western Freedom? Nancy J. Hirschmann No access Pages 39 - 60
3. Islamic Constitutionalism and the Concept of Democracy Azizah Y. al-Hibri No access Pages 61 - 88
4. Rewriting Contemporary Muslim Politics: A Twentieth-Century Periodization Ahmet Davutoglu No access Pages 89 - 118
5. Symbolic and Utilitarian Value of a Tradition: Martyrdom in the Iranian Political Culture Manochehr Dorraj No access Pages 119 - 144
6. Radical Islam and Nonviolence: A Case Study of Religious Empowerment and Constraint Robert C. Johansen No access Pages 145 - 172
7. Indian Secularism and Its Critics: Some Reflections Thomas Pantham No access Pages 173 - 184
8. Confucianism and Communitarianism in a Liberal Democratic World Russell Arben Fox No access Pages 185 - 212
9. Confucianism with a Liberal Face: Democratic Politics in Postcolonial Taiwan L. H. M. Ling and Chih-yu Shih No access Pages 213 - 236
10. Beyond "East and West": Nishida's Universalism and Postcolonial Critique Yoko Arisaka No access Pages 237 - 252
11. Taoist Politics: An Other Way? John J. Clarke No access Pages 253 - 276
12. Postmodernity, Eurocentrism, and the Future of Political Philosophy Hwa Yol Jung No access Pages 277 - 296
Index No access Pages 297 - 310
About the Contributors No access Pages 311 - 313