Normativity And Power

Humans are justificatory beings - they offer, demand, and require justifications. The rules and institutions they follow rest on justification narratives that have evolved over time and, taken together, constitute a dynamic and tension-laden normative order. In this collection of essays, the first translation into English of the ground-breaking Normativitat und Macht (Suhrkamp 2015), Rainer Forst presents a new approach to critical theory. Each essay reflects on the basic principles that guide our normative thinking. Forst's argument goes beyond 'ideal' and 'realist' theories and shows how closely the concepts of normativity and power are interrelated, and how power rests on the capacity to influence, determine, and possibly restrict the space of justifications for others. By combining insights from the disciplines of philosophy, history, and the social sciences, Forst revaluates theories of justice, as well as of power, and provides the tools for a critical theory of relations of justification.

Despite its capacity to produce knowledge that can directly influence policy and affect social change, academia is still often viewed as a stereotypical ivory tower, detached from the tumult of daily life. Knowledge, Normativity, and Power in Academia argues that, in our current moment of historic global unrest, the fruits of the academy need to be examined more closely than ever. This collection pinpoints the connections among researchers, activists, and artists, arguing that--despite what we might think--the knowledge produced in universities and the processes that ignite social transformation are inextricably intertwined. Knowledge, Normativity, and Power in Academia provides analysis from both inside and outside the academy to show how this seemingly staid locale can still provide space for critique and resistance.

While the relationship between norms and the state is an omnipresent research theme in International Relations, most international theory - from classical liberalism to recent constructivism - continues to treat 'normative state power' as an analytical impossibility. Scholarship within the fields of human rights, global civil society, and globalization remains primarily focused on moral evaluations and the mitigation of the geopolitical power of the state. Rarely are the normative institutional capacities of the state the focus of analysis. This book offers a new theory of normative state power in global politics. Marjo Koivisto argues that normative state power is distinct from the fiscal or military might of states. It is usually institutionalized and internalized within the state as a set of cultural norms relating to the role of statehood in local and global practice. By deploying both theoretical inquiry and substantive analysis of the Nordic model, the book offers a deep, institutionalist account of normative state power as exercised in relation to the welfare state. A case study of the internationalist networks of the Nordic states in times of economic crises (both the 1930s and 1990s) illustrates how, thanks to the persistence of normative state power, state forms tend to outlast political and economic transformations.

Theorising Noumenal Power is a critical engagement with Rainer Forst’s theory of what he calls "noumenal power." Forst is the most significant younger generation critical theorist of the Frankfurt School, and his critics include several of the most influential contemporary political power theorists. The concept of noumenal power locates the sources of social and political power in the space of reasons or justifications – using a normatively neutral account of "justification." To exercise power, on that account, means to be able to determine, use, close or open up the space of justifications for others. Going back to Kant, the social subject is theorized as a reasoning being who confers legitimacy upon political structures based upon the cognitive faculty of justification. As argued by Max Weber, authority is the foundation of political institutions and authority presupposes a belief in legitimacy. On the one hand such beliefs can be distorted, as in ideology, or they can be based upon a process of reasoned justification relative to normatively desirable principles. Critiquing the former, while building upon the latter, serves as the foundation for theorising just democratic politic institutions. For Forst’s critics, a key theme is how to differentiate ideological (bad) justification, typically based upon emotion, from normatively right democratic reasoning. Other important themes are the analysis of structural domination or the use of threats or other means of exercising power. The debate in this volume constitutes an exciting new way of re-thinking the foundations of ideology, political power, democracy and justice. Providing a state-of-the-art discussion concerning the relationship between political power and justification Theorising Noumenal Power is essential for students and scholars interested in the theoretical foundations of political power, democracy and justice. The chapters were originally published in the Journal of Political Power.

The semantics of normative thought and discourse -- Thinking about what ought to be -- Expressivism -- Causal theories and conceptual analyses -- Conceptual role semantics -- Context and the logic of 'ought' -- The metaphysics of normative facts -- The metaphysical issues -- The normativity of the intentional -- Irreducibility and causal efficacy -- Non-reductive naturalism -- The epistemology of normative belief -- The status of normative intuitions -- Disagreement and the a priori.

Calls for a Foucauldian approach to political thought that is intrinsically resistant to power and subordination to public policy. This book comprises a series of staged confrontations between the thought of Michel Foucault and a cast of other figures in European and Anglophone political philosophy, including Marx, Lenin, Althusser, Deleuze, Rorty, Honneth, and Geuss. Focusing on the status of normativity in their thought, Mark G. E. Kelly explains how Foucault’s position in relation to political theory is different, and, over the course of the book, describes a distinctive Foucauldian stance in political thought that is maximally anti-normative, anti-theoretical, and anti-political. For Foucault aims to undermine attempts to discern the appropriate form of political action, instead putting forward a rigorously critical program for a political theory that lacks any moralizing or totalizing dimension, and serves only to side with resistance against power, and never with power itself. Looking at attempts to think radically about politics from Marx to the present day, Kelly traces a novel history of political thought as a trend of attempts to overcome the constraints of normativity, theoreticism, and subordination to public policy. He concludes by assessing and rejecting recent attempts to reclaim Foucault for a form of normative politics by associating him with neoliberalism. Mark G. E. Kelly is Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts at Western Sydney University in Australia. His books include Foucault and Politics: A Critical Introduction; Biopolitical Imperialism; and The Political Philosophy of Michel Foucault.

Europe, China, and the Limits of Normative Power is a groundbreaking book, offering insights into European influence regarding China’s development, during a period when Europe confronts its most serious political, social, and economic crises of the post-war period. Considering Europe’s identity and its future international relevance, this book examines the extent to which Europe’s multi-layered governance structure, the normative divergence overshadowing EU–China relations and Europe’s crises continue to shape – and often limit – Europe’s capacity to inspire China’s development.

What are our duties or rights? How should we act? What are we responsible for? Joseph Raz examines the philosophical issues underlying these everyday questions. He explores the nature of normativity--the reasoning behind certain beliefs and emotions about how we should behave--and offers a novel account of responsibility.