Politics of Difference

<p>This book develops a notion of differences and 'otherness' beyond hegemonic and hierarchical thinking as represented by the legacies of Western philosophical and political thought.</p><p>In doing so it relates to the phenomenological discourse of the twentieth century especially to Georg Simmel Alfred Schütz Emmanual Lévinas and Jacques Derrida and drafts our understanding of difference as a genuine human experience of a social and political world that is in motion and transformative rather than static and predictable. On this basis of temporalized ontology and its normative consequences differences are drafted as a positive social and political force and as powerful capacities of transformation and change. In practical terms this understanding is most important for our theorizing and acting upon peace peace-building and conflict solution. Differences now appear not as obstacle to peace and reconciliation but as lively and constructive articulations of 'otherness' and as a positive power of transformation emancipation and change.</p><p>This book will be of interest to students of international relations philosophy and political theory.</p>