Book Review: Francis O’Gorman, The Cambridge Companion to John Ruskin
| Published date | 01 November 2017 |
| Author | Stamatoula Panagakou |
| Date | 01 November 2017 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929917718673 |
| Subject Matter | Book ReviewsPolitical Theory |
Book Reviews 611
preemptive warfare has and will result in
unanticipated effects that (may) ultimately
further destabilise regional and international
security. Massumi ties in the events and
effects of 9/11 to his argument, it being the
catalyst for the new ecology of preemptive
power.
Ontopower is clearly a well-researched and
well-argued text. Whether or not one agrees
with the principles of this new theory of power,
it is undeniable that Massumi has presented a
thorough and rigorous examination of power
and the logic of preemption. Given that power
now focuses on what may emerge, according to
Massumi, rather than what is emerging, it is
now necessary to consider theories of power
which accept the lag between operations and
policy that we see across all areas of govern-
ance. This is eminently true and has been for
some time.
Ontopower is an extensive and persuasive
option. The text is academically dense, and
highly verbose. Better suited to academic and
professional experts, strategists, and philoso-
phers interested in power, this text is not for
everyone. Nonetheless, it offers excellent
insight into the importance of perception in
modern politics, and thus warfare, which is
essential knowledge for students and practi-
tioners of governance and security.
Courteney J O’Connor
(National Security College, The Australian
National University)
© The Author(s) 2017
Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1478929917712911
journals.sagepub.com/home/psrev
The Cambridge Companion to John Ruskin
by Francis O’Gorman. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2015. 316pp., £18.99 (p/b), ISBN
9781107674240
John Ruskin (1819–1900) was an art critic, a
social reformer, a patron and collector of art and
a polymath. He was also the first Slade Professor
of Fine Art at Oxford and the founder of the
Guild of St George. Well known for the interdis-
ciplinary and multifarious character of his work,
Ruskin is an original thinker whose views both
fascinate and challenge. His writings and what
he cared for provide an instructive paradigm
which can inspire the technocratic and spiritu-
ally deficient mind of our times.
The author of Modern Painters, Unto This
Last, Sesame and Lilies and Fors Clavigera
raised a robust voice against the destruction of
the natural world and cultural heritage. He
castigated the dehumanising effects of nine-
teenth-century industrialisation and unbridled
capitalism and stressed the dignity and moral
value of craftsmanship. His critique of a soci-
ety which glorifies profit at the expense of
human beings sets an ethical standard for the
evaluation of economic enterprise and devel-
opment.
In this volume, 16 Ruskin scholars under
the editorship of Francis O’Gorman discuss
various aspects of Ruskin’s complex oeuvre.
The reader is invited on a journey of discovery
and reflection as narratives of places, ideas and
emotions are intertwined with analyses of
authorship, reception and influence. It is shown
how travels to Europe and journeys within
Britain quenched Ruskin’s thirst for natural
and aesthetic beauty and satisfied his desire for
a commanding ethic of virtue and truth. His
monumental writings on art and architecture
owe much to those travels.
The popularity of Ruskin’s Oxford lec-
tures, his friendship with Thomas Carlyle and
his letters, diary journals and articles demon-
strate the restlessness of his spirit, expressing
a need for connection and communication. He
both entertained and mesmerised his audience,
and the essays in this volume amply convey
the atmosphere of spiritual ambiance, admira-
tion and awe generated by his public voice.
The Ruskin panorama is completed with dis-
cussions of his religious life and the nature of
his autobiography, as well as with assessments
of his views on politics, economics, technol-
ogy and gender.
Ruskin led a life of ideas and ethico-aesthetic
engagement. His organic understanding of
nature and society, his interest in the well-
being of craftsmen and his antipathy to free
market economy relate to contemporary dis-
courses of social justice and environmental
ethics. Political and social theorists, political
scientists and intellectual historians can all
draw useful insights from his vision of an
ordered, virtuous and creative world, while
enjoying his powerful prose. The Cambridge
Companion to John Ruskin sheds new light on
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