Theory in an Uneven World / Edition 1

by R. Radhakrishnan

Overview

This major intervention into debates about the postcolonial and the global proposes that theory should embody unevenness as symptom even as it envisions strategies to get beyond unevenness. Radhakrishnan's thought-provoking engagement with theorists and writers from around the world will fascinate readers across a wide range of disciplines.

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• A major intervention into debates about the postcolonial and the global.
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• Proposes that theory bear the burden of unevenness even as it seeks a way out of it - neither captive to the world as it is, nor naively credulous of visions of the world as it should be, theory argues for an ethics of persuasion that is firmly rooted in political resistance.
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• Engages with a wide range of theorists and writers from around the world.
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• Ranges over fields as diverse as critical theory, postmodernism, poststructuralism, postcolonialism, minority studies, cultural studies and anthropology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780631175384
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	10/10/2003
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.74(d)

About the Author

R. Radhakrishnan is Professor of English at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of Diasporic Mediations: Between Home and Location (University of Minnesota Press, 1996). His articles and essays have appeared in a wide range of scholarly journals and in collections such as Nationalisms and Sexualities (Ed. Parker, Russo, Sommer and Yaeger, Routledge, 1992), The Nature and Context of Minority Discourse (ed. Mohamed and Lloyd, OUP, 1991), Orientations: Mapping Studies in the Asian Diaspora (ed. Chuh and Shimakawa, Duke University Press, 2001) and Identities: Race, Class, Gender, Nationality (Ed. Alcoff and Mendieta, Blackwell 2003).

Table of Contents

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

1. Postmodernism and the Rest of the World.

2. The Use and Abuse of Multiculturalism.

3. Globalization, Desire, and the Politics of Representation.

4. Derivative Discourses and the Problem of Signification.

5. Theory in an Uneven World.

Notes.

Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"R. Radhakrishnan belongs to a generation of critics which has enriched contemporary literature by revolutionizing the literary canon. He is one of the foremost of this generation and deservedly so." Amitav Ghosh, author of The Glass Palace

"Written with a magnanimous spirit and vision, Theory in an Uneven World is a welcome reminder of the challenges theoretical thinking continues to pose. I applaud R. Radhakrishnan for countering the fashionable gesture of theory-bashing with such intensely engaging critical discussions." Rey Chow, Brown University

"In a world ridden with unevenness, Radhakrishnan’s intense analyses invoke the need for shattering the self-reflexive discourses of the academy so as to open them up to the demands of the oppressed." Robert J.C. Young, New York University

Editorial Reviews

"R. Radhakrishnan belongs to a generation of critics which has enriched contemporary literature by revolutionizing the literary canon. He is one of the foremost of this generation and deservedly so." Amitav Ghosh, author of The Glass Palace

"Written with a magnanimous spirit and vision, Theory in an Uneven World is a welcome reminder of the challenges theoretical thinking continues to pose. I applaud R. Radhakrishnan for countering the fashionable gesture of theory-bashing with such intensely engaging critical discussions." Rey Chow, Brown University

"In a world ridden with unevenness, Radhakrishnan’s intense analyses invoke the need for shattering the self-reflexive discourses of the academy so as to open them up to the demands of the oppressed." Robert J.C. Young, New York University

From the Publisher