The Imaginary Institution of Society [Paperback]

Cornelius Castoriadis (Author), Kathleen Blamey (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 1998

This is one of the most original and important works of contemporary European thought. First published in France in 1975, it is the major theoretical work of one of the foremost thinkers in Europe today.Castoriadis offers a brilliant and far-reaching analysis of the unique character of the social-historical world and its relations to the individual, to language, and to nature. He argues that most traditional conceptions of society and history overlook the essential feature of the social-historical world, namely that this world is not articulated once and for all but is in each case the creation of the society concerned. In emphasizing the element of creativity, Castoriadis opens the way for rethinking political theory and practice in terms of the autonomous and explicit self-institution of society.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Thirty years ago Castoriadis founded the French journal Socialisme ou Barbarie, the title of which stated the alternatives he then saw confronting capitalism. Like Bruno Rizzi, James Burnham, and Milovan Djilas, who worked through an early belief in Marxism to develop a critique of Marxism from the Left, Castoriadis came to conclude that Marxism itself ends in the barbarism of a new class of bureaucrats. The first half of the present work consists of Castoriadis's trenchant critique, while the second half attempts to explain society's origin and function from a new viewpoint. Castoriadis's social theory, a product of more recent years, holds that society arises from the creative imagination, especially in language. Although his presentation is abstract, it is often punctuated by striking examples. This title belongs in most academic collections. Brent A. Nelson, Univ. of Arkansas, Technology Campus Lib., Little Rock
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Castoriadis's The Imaginary Institution of Society is a workof great power and originality. As a work of social theory, I wouldargue that it belongs in a class with the writings of Habermas andArendt." Jay Bernstein, University of Essex

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Product Details

• Paperback: 426 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (January 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262531550
• ISBN-13: 978-0262531559
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #764,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > History > Historical Study > Philosophy of History

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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most important thinkers of the 20th century, January 23, 2001

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Nik "cavanaugh84" (Athens Greece) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Imaginary Institution of Society (Paperback)

Castoriadis was born in 1922 in cosmopolitan Constantinople (now Istanbul)from Greek parents. He grew up in Athens in a cultivated and fertile social environment. Castoriadis belongs to the generation of Greek thinkers that left Greece (in 1945 because of the Greek civil war)and matured in Europe (Axelos, Kranaki, Papaioannou etc.). The imaginary istitution of society is his landmark work. In this work he covers several subjects (marxism, revolutionary theory, social imaginary and the individual..). A few words from this work will show the depth and clarity of his thought: "Is my desire infantile? But it is the situation we live in infantile. That the life is given to us, the law is given to us. In an infantile situation life is given for nothing;and the law is given without anything (sans rien), without a possible discussion. But what I want is the opposite: I want to live my life and if possible to give life .....The person who is in an infantile level is the person who is apolitical and conformist...the person who replaces the private father with the social anonymous father... "