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Precarious Life: The Power of Mourning and Violence (Hardcover)

by Judith Butler (Author) "Since the events of September 11, we have seen both a rise of anti-intellectualism and a growing acceptance of censorship within the media..." (more)
Key Phrases: corporeal vulnerability, indefinite detention, United States, Geneva Convention, First World (more...)

3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review
Butler makes a strong case for the desirability, of criticism in a time of national urgency and testing. -- The Small Press Book Review, 6/4/004

Product Description
One of America's leading intellectuals responds to the current US policies to wage perpetual war.

This profound appraisal of post-9/11 America considers the conditions of heightened vulnerability and aggression that followed from the attack on the US, and US retaliation. Judith Butler critiques the use of violence that has emerged as a response to loss, and argues that the dislocation of first-world privilege offers instead a chance to imagine a world in which that violence might be minimized and in which interdependency becomes acknowledged as the basis for a global political community. Butler considers the means by which some lives become grief-worthy, while others are perceived as undeserving of grief or even incomprehensible as lives. She discusses the political implications of sovereignty in light of the prisoners in Guantánamo Bay. She argues against the anti-intellectual current of contemporary US patriotism and the power of censorship during times of war. Finally, she takes on the question of when and why anti-semitism is leveled as a charge against those who voice criticisms of the Israeli state. She counters that we have a responsibility to speak out against both Israeli injustices and anti-semitism, and argues against the rhetorical use of the charge of anti-semitism to quell public debate.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Verso (May 6, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1844670058
ISBN-13: 978-1844670055
Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces

Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #710,012 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Since the events of September 11, we have seen both a rise of anti-intellectualism and a growing acceptance of censorship within the media. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
corporeal vulnerability, indefinite detention

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Geneva Convention, First World, Department of Defense, New York Times, Guantanamo Bay, World Trade Center, Daniel Pearl, Third World, Mona Baker, American Jewish, Geneva Accords, Northern Alliance

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 19 books:

Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism by Chandra Talpade Mohanty in Back Matter
Relating Narratives: Storytelling and Selfhood (Warwick Studies in European Philosophy) by Adrian Cavarero in Back Matter
Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority (Philosophical Series) by Emmanuel Levinas in Back Matter
Face to Face (43 Light Street, Book 13) by Rebecca York in Back Matter
Mapping Jewish Identities (New Perspectives on Jewish Studies) by Laurence Silberstein in Back Matter

See all 19 books this book cites

2 books cite this book:

The Disappearing Liberal Intellectual by Eric Lott in Back Matter
Reading 'Desperate Housewives': Beyond the White Picket Fence (Reading Contemporary Television) by Janet McCabe in Back Matter

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	82% buy the item featured on this page: Precarious Life: The Power of Mourning and Violence 3.4 out of 5 stars (5)
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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews

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3.4 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Provocative book, January 18, 2007

By	J. Aragon "Feminist Educator" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Precarious Life: The Power of Mourning and Violence (Reprint) (Paperback)

I read this book yesterday and just ate it up. It's not the usual esoteric examination by Butler. (Not that anything is wrong with that and I've read her other work, as well).

That said, the book is written for a lay audience and I think that this book needed to be published, since the responses of feminists to or after Sept 11th have been far and few. (Aftershock is a great book to read about Sept 11th from a feminist point of view).

I can't pinpoint what my favourite section of the book was, however, I enjoyed it all. It was refreshing to see a political theorist write about something "real" that is taking place today that many are discussing or living through.

This is a wonderful addition to her writing repertoire. I do hope to see her write more for a lay audience, since hopefully they will get their curiosity piqued and read more Butler.

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22 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent social commentary, June 27, 2004

By A Customer

Judith Butler is a multi-talented scholar who can write for both specialized and general audiences (which is why many, I believe, envy her). This book is quite accessible and rightly so; it is concerned with the contemporary predicaments we are currently in at this point in history. An extremely important book, Butler's "Precarious Life" has much to offer.

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12 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The only Judith Butler book, May 29, 2004

By A Customer

I thought Precarious Life was great. Her previous work always sounded like a dreary parody of "postmodern criticism" to me, and I couldn't be bothered trying to slog through any of it. She's obviously going for a wider audience with this new one. It's working.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Another Other
Judith Butler is out of her depth in her discussions of Israel,
and (the new) anti-semitism.Readers searching for understanding of post-9/11 politics will encounter lopsided... Read more

Published on December 12, 2004 by reader

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing new
I had much anticipation of Butler's _Precarious Lives_ considering her position as one of the foremost cultural and literary theorists. Read more

Published on May 21, 2004

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