The Terms of Order: Political Science and the Myth of LeadershipDo we live in basically orderly societies that occasionally erupt into violent conflict, or do we fail to perceive the constancy of violence and disorder in our societies? In this classic book, originally published in 1980, Cedric J. Robinson contends that our perception of political order is an illusion, maintained in part by Western political and social theorists who depend on the idea of leadership as a basis for describing and prescribing social order. Using a variety of critical approaches in his analysis, Robinson synthesizes elements of psychoanalysis, structuralism, Marxism, classical and neoclassical political philosophy, and cultural anthropology in order to argue that Western thought on leadership is mythological rather than rational. He then presents examples of historically developed "stateless" societies with social organizations that suggest conceptual alternatives to the ways political order has been conceived in the West. Examining Western thought from the vantage point of a people only marginally integrated into Western institutions and intellectual traditions, Robinson's perspective radically critiques fundamental ideas of leadership and order. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 7 | |
2 The Parameters of Leadership | 39 |
3 The Question of Rationality | 72 |
4 The Messiah and the Metaphor | 108 |
5 On Anarchism | 158 |
6 Conclusion | 204 |
Notes | 217 |
| 261 | |
| 271 | |
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The Terms of Order: Political Science and the Myth of Leadership Cedric J. Robinson No preview available - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
achieved alien analysis analytical anarchism anarchist argued BaKongo Black bourgeois characterized charismatic charismatic authority Claude Levi-Strauss concept concerned consciousness consequence construction contradiction crises critical culture democracy democratic dialectic economic Edmund Leach ego ideal elements emerges epistemological eschatological essay event example existential experience force Foucault Freud function fundamental Godwin Gouldner Greek human Ibid idea identified ideology individual institutions instrument integration intellectual irrational Karl Polanyi kinship Kropotkin Kuhn Kuhn’s language leader Levi-Strauss logical Marx Marxism Max Weber meaning metaphysics Michel Foucault movement mukowa myth nature numbers objective one’s order of things organization paradigm phenomena phenomenon philosophy Plato political authority political leadership political order political science political society Popper Press presumed presumption primitive psychological radical rational reality relationship revolution Robinson role sense social Sohm Stanley Diamond structure suggested theory thought tion Tonga tradition understanding understood University Weber Western William Godwin Woodcock York