Synopses & Reviews
Michael Walzer is widely regarded as one of the worldand#8217;s leading political theorists.and#160;In a career spanning more than fifty years, he has wrestled with some of the most crucial political ideas and questions of the day, developing original conceptions of democracy, social justice, liberalism, civil society, nationalism, multiculturalism, and terrorism.and#160;
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Thinking Politically brings together some of Walzerand#8217;s most important work to provide a wide-ranging survey of his thinking and the vision that underlies his responses to contemporary political debates.and#160;The book also includes a previously unpublished essay on human rights. David Millerand#8217;s substantial introduction presents a detailed analysis of the development of Walzerand#8217;s ideas and connects them to wider currents of political thought.and#160;In addition, the book includes a recent interview with Walzer on a range of topical issues, and a detailed bibliography of his works.
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This collection will be welcomed by scholars in politics and philosophy, as well as anyone keen to engage in discussion on some of the key issues of our times.
Review
"In this elegant and incisive book, Michael Walzer draws on everyday political experience to open up some of the theoretical dead-ends in which contemporary democratic theory has become stalled. The books positive, constructive emphasis will make it useful to anyone interested in issues of social equality."—Bernard Yack, Brandeis University
Review
"This book is brim full of the acute intelligence, human understanding, and practical wisdom that we have come to expect from Michael Walzer. In Politics and Passion he combines a radical commitment to equality and democracy with a hard-won recognition of the realities of politics.
Review
“This clearly and engagingly written book shows up the thinness of much contemporary liberal theory. Informed by his social democratic convictions, Walzer allows the real dilemmas of egalitarian liberalism to surface, and faces them honestly, without the conjuring tricks and obfuscation that philosophy can lend itself to.”--Charles Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, McGill University
Review
"Walzer brings a fresh voice to the most studied text of the Western tradition. I found myself marking up passage after passage as I followed his learned observations about the political implications of the Bible...I constantly found myself reaching new levels of insight as a result of his erudite points of provocation. This book is highly recommended for all those who take the legacy of the Bible seriously."—Gary Anderson, Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Theology, University of Notre Dame, author of Sin: A History
Review
"Was there room in the Biblical kingdom of an omnipotent God for a political constitution or political responsibility? Walzers guide through the text of the Hebrew Bible is magnificent: a many-layered, elegant, sympathetic but unapologetic examination of covenants, legal codes, kingship, prophecy, exile, holy war, and social justice ‘in Gods shadow. It is nothing less than an account of how the Israelites came to define themselves as Jews."—Nancy Rosenblum, Department of Government, Harvard University, and author of On the Side of the Angels: An Appreciation of Parties and Partisanship
Review
"In this remarkable, wise and elegant book, Michael Walzer, one of the greatest political theorists of our time, examines brilliantly the diverse dimensions of Biblical politics, its institutions and struggles. It raises as well the ultimate question of the possibility to carve a human political realm in the Shadow of God. Scholars and students of the Bible will learn a great deal from the fresh an original reading of biblical traditions, and it will inspire anyone who is interested in the relationship between politics and religion."—Moshe Halbertal, author of On Sacrifice
Review
"This book deals with the breadth of foundational themes of the Hebrew Bible. Michael Walzer provides a vibrant perspective, and innovative and refreshing reading of the ancient book of books."—Israel Knohl, author of The Sanctuary of Silence
Review
"Walzer is a great portraitist of biblical political ideas such as power, authority, hierarchy and war—warts and all. His depiction is beautifully conceived and beautifully written. It is a very good book on The Good Book." —Avishai Margalit, George F. Kennan Professor, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and Professor Emeritus in Philosophy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Review
"In the story of how the modern West evolved beyond sacral kingship, there is a Greco-Roman strand and a Hebrew strand.
Walzer offers a penetrating account of the Hebrew strand in its many ramifications, with all the insight and sense of nuance that distinguish him as a political theorist."—Charles Taylor, author of A Secular Age and Dilemmas and Connections
Review
"[Walzer] mines the scriptures for their insight on subjects that continue to vex world leaders today. If there is a common thread, it is perhaps that great power inevitably 'tempts kings and emperors to put themselves in Gods place,' while blinding them to the fact that, often, 'human beings are better off not doing what God does.'"—Publishers Weekly
Review
"In God's Shadow is elegant and erudite. Anyone interested in assessing the ideas about politics, government and law in the Bible should read it."—Glenn C. Altschuler, Jerusalem Post
Review
“Those interested in politics, those interested in religion, and those interested in both will be challenged by this fascinating study.”—Booklist Online
Review
In God’s Shadow “is a rich and rare example of how new, provocative and illuminating meanings can be teased out of the ancient text.”– Jonathan Kirsch,
The Jewish Journal Review
“Walzer has written a lucid, probing, and broad-minded study that will enrich each reader's understanding of the great architectonic text of Western civilization. We are in his debt.”—Eric Nelson,
Jewish Review of BooksReview
“Manifestly important. . . . Elegant and lucid. The issues [are] of wide significance and addressed with precision . . . and admirable clarity.”—Allan Silver, Columbia University
Review
"Nationalism remains the most potent ideological force in modern politics. This study of the fate of nationalism in Israel, India, and Algeria shows how easily plans for liberation have flip-flopped into their opposite. At a time when our politics continually vacillates between boredom and frivolity, Michael Walzer has reminded us of what it truly important."—Steven B. Smith, Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science, Yale University
Review
"In this remarkably innovative book Michael Walzer advances the bold thesis that national liberation movements, drunk on secular ambitions, ignored traditional religious and ethnic commitments at great cost. Decades after the liberation struggles were won, those powerful forces have come back to haunt them. This is Walzer at his incisive best."—Ian Shapiro, author of The Real World of Democratic Theory
Review
“With rare gifts of moral sensibility, eloquence, and humility, Michael Walzer turns three haunting stories of historical loss into stories of paradox and hope. This book is a brilliant call for commitment to the reproduction of secular democracy, and Walzer points a way forward.”—Nancy L. Rosenblum, author of
On the Side of the Angels: An Appreciation of Parties and Partisanship
Review
“Walzer traces, with admirable lucidity, the social and cultural reasons that liberation movements in Algeria, India, and Israel ended up betraying the secular democratic hopes that they originally inspired. His rich, insightful account makes it clear why he is often acclaimed as America’s leading political thinker.”—Richard Wolin, author of The Wind from the East: French Intellectuals, the Cultural Revolution, and the Legacy of the 1960s
Review
"Michael Walzer is a titan among political philosophers, and The Paradox of Liberation is one of his greatest books—incisive, original, humane, bold, nuanced, timely, and relentlessly and beautifully lucid.”—Paul Berman, author of Terror and Liberalism and Flight of the Intellectuals
Review
“Why do secular liberation movements so often give rise to quasi-religious reactionary movements, and is there any way in which this problematic dynamic might be avoided? Discussing Israel, India, Algeria, and the United States, Michael Walzer, America's leading political theorist, tackles this urgent question with clarity and deep insight.”—Martha C. Nussbaum, The University of Chicago
Review
“As vital, productive, and intellectually alive as ever . . . [with] The Paradox of Liberation, Walzer has made a major contribution.”—Michael Ignatieff, New York Review of Books
Review
“Fascinating . . . Walzer can rightly be called America’s greatest living political philosopher . . . A cause for celebration.”—Alan Wolfe, Chronicle of Higher Education
Review
“One of the many virtues of Walzer’s subtlety is that he helps us understand that, while the ideologies of today’s fundamentalists and ultra-orthodox are rooted in ancient or medieval ideas, these movements are, in a peculiar way, thoroughly modern.”—E.J. Dionne, Washington Post
Review
“[A] searching meditation on the trajectory of nationalism and politics”—G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs
Synopsis
A thought-provoking reflection on why secular national liberation movements are so often challenged by militant religious revivals
Many of the successful campaigns for national liberation in the years following World War II were initially based on democratic and secular ideals. Once established, however, the newly independent nations had to deal with entirely unexpected religious fierceness. Michael Walzer, one of America s foremost political thinkers, examines this perplexing trend by studying India, Israel, and Algeria, three nations whose founding principles and institutions have been sharply attacked by three completely different groups of religious revivalists: Hindu militants, ultra-Orthodox Jews and messianic Zionists, and Islamic radicals. In his provocative, well-reasoned discussion, Walzer asks, Why have these secular democratic movements been unable to reproduce their political culture beyond one or two generations? In a postscript, he compares the difficulties of contemporary secularism to the successful establishment of secular politics in the early American republic thereby making an argument for American exceptionalism but gravely noting that we may be less exceptional today."
Synopsis
Michael Walzer is one of the worlds most eminent philosophers on the subject of war and ethics. Now, for the first time since his classic Just and Unjust Wars was published almost three decades ago, this volume brings together his most provocative arguments about contemporary military conflicts and the ethical issues they raise.The essays in the book are divided into three sections. The first deals with issues such as humanitarian intervention, emergency ethics, and terrorism. The second consists of Walzers responses to particular wars, including the first Gulf War, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. And the third presents an essay in which Walzer imagines a future in which war might play a less significant part in our lives. In his introduction, Walzer reveals how his thinking has changed over time.Written during a period of intense debate over the proper use of armed force, this book gets to the heart of difficult problems and argues persuasively for a moral perspective on war.
Synopsis
A preeminent political theorist arguesagainst prevailing liberal theoryfor the role of passion in political life
Synopsis
Distinguished political philosopher Michael Walzer here offers a provocative reappraisal of the core tenets of liberalism. Ranging over contested issues including multiculturalism, pluralism, difference, civil society, and racial and gender justice, he suggest ways in which liberal theory might be revised to make it more hospitable to the claims of equality.
Synopsis
Liberalism is egalitarian in principle, but why doesnt it do more to promote equality in practice? In this book, the distinguished political philosopher Michael Walzer offers a critique of liberal theory and demonstrates that crucial realities have been submerged in the evolution of contemporary liberal thought.
In the standard versions of liberal theory, autonomous individuals deliberate about what ought to be donebut in the real world, citizens also organize, mobilize, bargain, and lobby. The real world is more contentious than deliberative. Ranging over hotly contested issues including multiculturalism, pluralism, difference, civil society, and racial and gender justice, Walzer suggests ways in which liberal theory might be revised to make it more hospitable to the claims of equality.
Combining profound learning with practical wisdom, Michael Walzer offers a provocative reappraisal of the core tenets of liberal thought. Politics and Passion will be required reading for anyone interested in social justiceand the means by which we seek to achieve it.
Synopsis
One of our most distinguished political theorists deliberates on the politics of the Bible and arrives at unexpected conclusions
Synopsis
In this eagerly awaited book, political theorist Michael Walzer reports his findings after decades of thinking about the politics of the Hebrew Bible. Attentive to nuance while engagingly straightforward, Walzer examines the laws, the histories, the prophecies, and the wisdom of the ancient biblical writers and discusses their views on such central political questions as justice, hierarchy, war, the authority of kings and priests, and the experience of exile.
Because there are many biblical writers with differing views, pluralism is a central feature of biblical politics. Yet pluralism, Walzer observes, is never explicitly defended in the Bible; indeed, it couldnt be defended since Gods word had to be as singular as God himself. Yet different political regimes are described in the biblical texts, and there are conflicting political arguments—and also a recurrent anti-political argument: if you have faith in God, you have no need for strong institutions, prudent leaders, or reformist policies. At the same time, however, in the books of law and prophecy, the people of Israel are called upon to overcome oppression and “let justice well up like water, righteousness like an unfailing stream.”
Synopsis
The series to which this book belongs is unprecedented. . . . Every one of the chapters enacts a debate that should have a living resonance, not just for Jews, although obviously for them, but for everyone with a historical sense and a political conscience.”Hilary Putnam,
Boston Review A vast and important resource which will be consulted for years to come by all interested in any aspect of Judaism and Jewish history.”Ira Robinson, Journal of Religion & Culture (praise for the series)
Synopsis
Distinguished political philosopher Michael Walzer offers a provocative reappraisal of the core tenets of liberalism. Ranging over contested issues including multiculturalism, pluralism, difference, civil society, and racial and gender justice, he suggest ways in which liberal theory might be revised to make it more hospitable to the claims of equality.
"[An] elegant and probing critique of contemporary liberal thought."G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs
"With his usual originality, clarity, depth, and intelligent judgments, Michael Walzer offers a perspective on political life that reveals serious inadequacies in standard liberal views and points to directions of change."Robert Dahl, Sterling Professor Emeritus, Yale University
Synopsis
A thought-provoking reflection on why secular national liberation movements are so often challenged by militant religious revivals
Synopsis
Many of the successful campaigns for national liberation in the years following World War II were initially based on democratic and secular ideals. Once established, however, the newly independent nations had to deal with entirely unexpected religious fierceness. Michael Walzer, one of America’s foremost political thinkers, examines this perplexing trend by studying India, Israel, and Algeria, three nations whose founding principles and institutions have been sharply attacked by three completely different groups of religious revivalists: Hindu militants, ultra-Orthodox Jews and messianic Zionists, and Islamic radicals. In his provocative, well-reasoned discussion, Walzer asks, Why have these secular democratic movements been unable to reproduce their political culture beyond one or two generations? In a postscript, he compares the difficulties of contemporary secularism to the successful establishment of secular politics in the early American republic—thereby making an argument for American exceptionalism but gravely noting that we may be less exceptional today.
About the Author
A Conversation with Michael Walzer
Q: Why did you write this book?
A: I think about politics all the time when I read, and I've been reading the Bible all my life. So why should this book be different from any other book? There is a politics in the Bible, and sometimes an anti-politics, and the stories and arguments are gripping. They cry out for our engagement.
Q: What did you find most surprising in the Bible?
A: The many voices, the radical pluralism of the Bible, which is really an anthology, a book of books. The last editors would never have called themselves pluralists or articulated a doctrine of pluralism, but they were remarkably inclusive. They brought together radically contradictory views, without seeking to harmonize the contradictions.
Q: So, is there a biblical political doctrine, a single teaching, a lesson to be learned?
A: No. Biblical fundamentalists will have a hard time finding the foundations. There is a biblical doctrine about religion and one about justice, but there is radical disagreement among the Bible's authors about politics. Some are actively hostile: when God is king, what need is there for human politics?
Praise for Michael Walzers Arguing about War:
“Walzer has moved the concerns over just war from the periphery of political theory to the very center of our democratic dilemma.”—Garry Wills, New York Review of Books
Praise for Michael Walzers On Toleration:
"The genius of Walzer's little book . . . is how realistic it is about the contradictions confronting those who would create an open society."—E. J. Dionne, Jr., Washington Post