The empire's new clothes : reading Hardt and Negri [WorldCat Entities]

"Empire's New Clothes examines the crucially important title Empire in all its complexity as a work of legal and political theory that diagnoses our era and urges liberatory action."@en
"'Empire's New Clothes' examines the crucially important title 'Empire' in all its complexity as a work of legal and political theory that diagnoses our era and urges liberatory action."@en
"The publication of Empire last year created a sensation that spread from academia to the media to cocktail-party buzz. A book that causes such a "scholarly commotion" comes along "only once every decade or so" wrote the New York Times, as the book's radical vision of imperial power in the new millennium sparked both histrionic condemnation and serious academic engagement. After September 11 this discussion of Empire's political and legal theories was closely linked with the struggle to redefine America's place in a changed world. The book was read as a diagnosis of our era and a call for liberatory action, while Michael Hardt was acclaimed as the next Jacques Derrida. Framing the debate about this landmark work, The Empire's New Clothes brings together leading scholars to make sense of Empire's new vocabulary and tackle its claims head on. Does the authors' vision accurately describe the power structure of today's world? Do the processes of "globalization" today represent a fundamental break from the past? Is the book really a "communist manifesto" for the new age? Empire's New Clothes investigates these and other key issues, giving academics, students, and lay readers a handle on a work that touches the most vital themes of current political, social, and economic life."
"Since its publication last year, Empire has come to dominate the academic world, stimulating debate and discussion throughout the humanities, social sciences, and into the mainstream media. The New York Times made outrageous claims about its importance, pointing to the "scholarly commotion" it has caused, and suggesting a book like this comes along only "once every decade or so" (July 7, 2001). Translation rights to Empire have been sold in ten countries already and the question has been raised whether Michael Hardt, one of the two authors, is the next Jacques Derrida. A new theoretical idea has been hitched to the voguish concern over globalization, and Empire describes the new form of sovereignty that has emerged under conditions of globalization ("Empire"); delivers an account of a new emancipatory subject (the "multitude"); and advances a set of empirical claims about the terrain of the processes that have come to be understood as "globalization." It's also a manifesto of sorts for the revolution in an age of globalization.; With pieces by Slavoj Zizek, Ernesto Laclau, and others, Empire's New Clothes addresses Empire in all its complexity, that is, as a work of legal and political theory that diagnoses our era and urges liberatory action. More precisely, it will set the outlines of the debate as it is emerging around the claims of Empire."