Sociology follows technology. This has always been clear, as much as the following truth: politics follows economics. In language derived from seventeenth-century political theorist James Harrington, the ‘superstructure’ follows the ‘foundation’ of society. According to Harrington’s principle of ‘ballance’, the structure of politics follows the structure of the material world underpinning it. And according to … Continue reading From fission to fusion: The technological germ of a future past
Tag: Machiavelli
Machiavelli Against The Bullies
Machiavellian has become a byword for scheming, calculating, sinister, and manipulative. But that is exactly what Machiavelli is not. Let me explain. Machiavelli, the anti-bully? Bullies are not Machiavellian. Bullies are weak-minded, appetitive, brutish individuals who think they can impose their will by force on particular people — not to achieve any particular end, but … Continue reading Machiavelli Against The Bullies
Everything ends: Explaining the modern world
First published in spring 2020. It’s fashionable to explain today’s world through two prisms: modern politics and modern economics—or the modern state and capitalism. Even the words sound slightly intimidating. So instead of defining them from a dictionary, I would like to give a historical account of how these pillars of the modern world evolved. … Continue reading Everything ends: Explaining the modern world
Mind the gap! Did the notion of ‘reason of state’ transform prior understandings of political community?
A Cambridge politics essay from 2020. The notion of ‘reason of state’ transformed prior understandings of political community—since it both (1) separated politics from morality and (2) reprioritised politics over morality. Raison d’état as a political concept created a ‘gap’ between political expediency and moral justice. The early-modern period oversaw the intellectual emergence of a … Continue reading Mind the gap! Did the notion of ‘reason of state’ transform prior understandings of political community?
What is distinctive about international politics? The question raised by the Bennett Institute’s report on public opinion on China, Russia, and America
A World Divided: Russia, China and the West. So goes the title of the Bennet Institute’s latest report on international politics, after a notable report on the decline of public trust in democracy in domestic political institutions (Global Satisfaction with Democracy, 2020). I would like to compare and contrast these reports and their shared implications … Continue reading What is distinctive about international politics? The question raised by the Bennett Institute’s report on public opinion on China, Russia, and America
Machiavelli, Weber, Nietzsche, and the music of politics
It is commonplace in the social sciences to use music as a metaphor for politics. Power is ‘articulated’ through institutions by individuals ‘harmonising’ on common themes. But by what mechanism does power flow in the modern world? We imagine power to be a top-down pyramid, but it can equally be viewed as a web-like structure … Continue reading Machiavelli, Weber, Nietzsche, and the music of politics
A theory of power
It has often been noted that power is expressed most purely through the sphere of politics — which, in turn, is defined through the lens of power. The term ‘power politics’ can therefore seem to be a tautology. What is powerful is political; what is political is powerful. But if these terms collapse into each … Continue reading A theory of power
Survival, community, and freedom: An accelerationist manifesto for conservative civic socialism
The left and its project of equality can seem to have two enemies: the centrist project of liberty and the right-wing project of community. All these moral positions also seem to miss the realist emphasis on survival. But I think there is a way of having our cake and eating it — building a left-wing … Continue reading Survival, community, and freedom: An accelerationist manifesto for conservative civic socialism
Time of Terra: The medieval foundations of modern politics
In my previous writings about modernity, theory, philosophy, art, and evolution, I have somewhat obscured the key to the world in which we live: its origins in medieval Europe. This idea occurred to me, paradoxically, in reflecting on science fiction, such as the tabletop game Warhammer 40,000, which follows influences both from high fantasy (notably, … Continue reading Time of Terra: The medieval foundations of modern politics
A prophecy of power and violence: Why ‘House of the Dragon’ is better than ‘Game of Thrones’
It has been said more often than once that the ‘Rings of Power’ series is nothing compared to Lord of the Rings. With the way prepared by ‘The Hobbit’ movies, Tolkien’s universe has been thoroughly ransacked. What was an epic fantasy series of books echoed in a swashbuckling, and occasionally moving, series of films has … Continue reading A prophecy of power and violence: Why ‘House of the Dragon’ is better than ‘Game of Thrones’
Edmund Wilson 