Democracy and Its Others (Political Theory and Contemporary Philosophy)

"Today's unprecedented levels of human migration present urgent challenges to traditional conceptualizations of national identity, nation-state sovereignty, and democratic citizenship. Foreigners are commonly viewed as outsiders whose inclusion within or exclusion from "the people" of the democratic state rests upon whether they benefit or threaten the unity of the nation. Against this instrumentalization of the foreigner, this book traces the historical development of the concepts of sovereignty and foreignness through the thought of philosophers such as Plato, Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Derrida, and Benhabib in order to show that foreignness is a structural feature of sovereignty that cannot be purged or assimilated. Understood in this light, foreignness allows for new forms of democratic political unity to be imagined that reject local practices which deprive individuals of political membership solely on the basis of national citizenship. This cosmopolitan model for citizenship provides a novel conceptual framework that simultaneously upholds the legal importance of democratic citizenship for political justice while ceaselessly contesting the exclusionary logic of the nation-state that reserves democratic rights for members of the nation alone."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Introduction Chapter 1: Ethnos, Demos, and Foreignness 1.1. Playing Politics: Ethnos and the (Re)Unification of the Demos Chapter 2: Hospitality or War? A Foreigner Approaches 2.1. The Piraeus 2.2. Cephalus, the Metic 2.3. Polemarchus, the Metic 2.4. Thrasymachus, the Indecidable Foreigner Chapter 3: The Fearful Origins of Sovereignty in the Social Contract Tradition 3.1. The Fearful Origins of Sovereignty in Hobbes 3.2. The Fearful Origins of Sovereignty in Locke 3.3. The Fearful Origins of Sovereignty in Rousseau Chapter 4: The Qualities of Sovereignty in the Social Contract Tradition 4.1. Hobbes' Absolute Sovereign 4.2. Locke's Neutral Umpire 4.3. Rousseau's General Will 4.4. A Brief Summary of Sovereignty Chapter 5: Foreignness, Sovereignty, and the Social Contract Tradition 5.1. Territorial Exclusions 5.2. Homogeneous Unity and the Sovereign Exclusion of Foreignness 5.3. Foreignness in Hobbes' Theorization of Sovereignty 5.4. Foreignness in Locke's Theorization of Sovereignty 5.5. Foreignness in Rousseau's Theorization of Sovereignty Chapter 6: The Naturalization of Artificial Sovereignty and Foreignness 6.1. Hobbes' Naturalization of Artificial Sovereignty 6.2. Locke's Naturalization of Artificial Sovereignty 6.3. Rousseau's Naturalization of Artificial Sovereignty 6.4. The Naturalization of Artificial Foreignness Chapter 7: The Foreign-Sovereign 7.1. The Quasi-Regime Chapter 8: Foreign Unto It-self, The Democratic Nation-State 8.1. Democracy's Others and the Protection of the Democratic Nation-State 8.2. Foreign Unto It-Self: Autoimmune Democracy 8.3. Democracy to Come and the Foreign-Sovereign Chapter 9: The Foreign-Citizen at the Threshold of Democratic Cosmopolitanism 9.1. Universal Hospitality at the Border Between the Moral and Legal 9.2. Unconditional Hospitality and the Cosmopolitanism to Come 9.3. Democratic Iterations 9.4. The Foreign-Citizen Bibliography Index Today's Unprecedented Levels Of Human Migration Present Urgent Challenges To Traditional Conceptualizations Of National Identity, Nation-state Sovereignty, And Democratic Citizenship. Foreigners Are Commonly Viewed As Outsiders Whose Inclusion Within Or Exclusion From “the People” Of The Democratic State Rests Upon Whether They Benefit Or Threaten The Unity Of The Nation. Against This Instrumentalization Of The Foreigner, This Book Traces The Historical Development Of The Concepts Of Sovereignty And Foreignness Through The Thought Of Philosophers Such As Plato, Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Derrida, And Benhabib In Order To Show That Foreignness Is A Structural Feature Of Sovereignty That Cannot Be Purged Or Assimilated. 1 Ethnos, Demos, And Foreignness; Playing Politics: Ethnos And The (re)unification Of The Demos -- 2. Hospitality Or War? A Foreigner Approaches -- 3. The Fearful Origins Of Sovereignty In The Social Contract Tradition -- 4. The Qualities Of Sovereignty In The Social Contract Tradition -- 5. Foreignness, Sovereignty, And The Social Contract Tradition -- 6. The Naturalization Of Artificial Sovereignty And Foreignness -- 7. The Foreign-sovereign -- 8. Foreign Unto It-self, The Democratic Nation-state -- 9. The Foreign-citizen At The Threshold Of Democratic Cosmopolitanism. By Jeffrey H. Epstein. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 301-305) And Index. "Today's unprecedented levels of human migration present urgent challenges to traditional conceptualizations of national identity, nation-state sovereignty, and democratic citizenship. Foreigners are commonly viewed as outsiders whose inclusion within or exclusion from?the people? of the democratic state rests upon whether they benefit or threaten the unity of the nation. Against this instrumentalization of the foreigner, this book traces the historical development of the concepts of sovereignty and foreignness through the thought of philosophers such as Plato, Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Derrida, and Benhabib in order to show that foreignness is a structural feature of sovereignty that cannot be purged or assimilated. Understood in this light, foreignness allows for new forms of democratic political unity to be imagined that reject local practices which deprive individuals of political membership solely on the basis of national citizenship. This cosmopolitan model for citizenship provides a novel conceptual framework that simultaneously upholds the legal importance of democratic citizenship for political justice while ceaselessly contesting the exclusionary logic of the nation-state that reserves democratic rights for members of the nation alone. -- Page 4 de la couverture Today’s unprecedented levels of human migration present urgent challenges to traditional conceptualizations of national identity, nation-state sovereignty, and democratic citizenship. Foreigners are commonly viewed to be outsiders whose inclusion within or exclusion from “the people” of the democratic state rests upon whether they benefit or threaten the unity of the nation. Against this commonly-held view, this book traces the historical development of the concepts of sovereignty and foreignness in order to argue that the foreigner and foreignness as such better understood as originary and ineliminable structural features of democracy that can never be purged or assimilated. Without calling for an end to the sovereign self-determination of the state, the structural necessity of foreignness to democracy shatters the links among nationality, citizenship, and democratic rights. Thus, foreignness provides the basis for a post-nationalist cosmopolitanism that challenges democratic states to remain open to its foreign others as the democratic project and the very meaning of democratic citizenship is perpetually re-imagined in ways that guarantee the fundamental universal right of all human beings—foreign or otherwise—to belong to a political community