Politics of Fear, Practices of Hope

(Paperback, NIPPOD)

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Description

Politics of Fear, Practices of Hope is about the relationship between two hugely influential ideas in political life: fear and hope. How are cultures of resistance nurtured within an environment of paranoia and social paralysis Stefan Skrimshire argues that grass-roots responses to a politics of fear coincide with an explosion of interest in the quasi-religious themes of apocalypse, eschatology and utopia in cultural life. Where visions of a better future are replaced by the acceptance of a fearful present - a state of war with no end' - this is an important examination of the beliefs that underpin our capacity to hope.

Reviews

"This is an excellent analysis of the myriad ways in which fear stifles political imagination, while hope liberates from apocalyptic fantasy. Skrimshire's book is at once accessible, engaged and learned, and weaves together activist practices with political theology to give an enriched account of each." - Professor Philip Goodchild, University of Nottingham, UK
Publication mentioned in Red Pepper, June 2008
'[Skrimshire] makes strenuous efforts to signpost and summarise, and the thesis comes complete with enlivening examples.' Alex Danchev, Times Higher Education Supplement, March 2009
"Skrimshire's erudite combination of critical theory, theology, and analysis of current events deftly weaves difficult and diverse materials into a thoughtful, coherent, and insightful work." Religious Studies Review, Vol. 35, No. 4, December 2009

Author Bio

Stefan Skrimshire is a postdoctoral research associate in philosophy of religion at The University of Manchester, UK.