Book Review: Peter E Digeser, Friendship Reconsidered: What it Means and How it Matters to Politics
| Author | Jamie Macpherson |
| Date | 01 November 2017 |
| Published date | 01 November 2017 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929917718158 |
| Subject Matter | Book ReviewsPolitical Theory |
608 Political Studies Review 15(4)
account of three intersecting subjects: the his-
tory of the ancient world up to the rise of
Christianity, a globalised perspective that does
not prioritise Greece and Rome and a sure
grasp of the key philosophical trends that
emerged in that epoch. Antony Black provides
an authoritative and informative guide to the
political thought of all the major civilisations
that developed in the aftermath of the Neolithic
revolution.
The book is structured in a coherently
chronological sequence that incorporates the
early Middle Eastern states of Egypt,
Mesopotamia and Israel. These are followed
by substantial explorations of the political
dynamics that affected the evolution of states
in China, India and the Greco-Roman world.
The author commendably justifies the purpose
of the book on the grounds that we now live in
a globalised community in which it is essential
to comprehend political cultures that hitherto
have developed in relative isolation, but now
find themselves interacting on a daily basis.
The author takes his inspiration from the
similar studies of Max Weber and it is this
comparative aspect that provides the most
stimulating aspect of the book. Black notes
intriguing commonalties such as the ones
between the Indian caste system and the politi-
cal hierarchy espoused in Plato’s Republic (p.
68), between Confucian communal ethics and
the system later developed by Hegel (p. 97)
and between the millennial promises of early
Christianity and Marxism today (p. 207).
Feminists will appreciate Black’s observa-
tion that a collective failure of ancient political
thought was the conspicuous absence of wom-
en’s rights (p. 222). He also highlights the con-
trasting nature of regional political philosophies:
both the isolated example of the Greeks as a
culture that managed to differentiate religion
and politics, and how Iran was the only civilisa-
tion to genuinely promote the cultural auton-
omy of its subject peoples (p. 223). Collectively,
Black’s crisp explanations build towards the
conclusion that we still owe a huge debt to often
neglected thinkers of antiquity such as Kautilya,
Mozi and the Stoics.
Perhaps the author could have added a short
coda on how Islam integrated many aspects of
ancient political thought at the end of the
epoch. He powerfully reminds us that the 2003
Iraq war was partly caused by the inability of
the West to shed its cultural arrogance towards
a society that did not share its political predis-
positions. This book represents a small but
valuable contribution to the avoidance of simi-
lar catastrophes in the future.
Sean Ledwith
(York College)
© The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/1478929917720416
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Friendship Reconsidered: What it Means
and How it Matters to Politics by Peter E
Digeser. Chichester: Columbia University Press,
2016. 361pp., £48.00 (h/b), ISBN 9780231174343
Following its long absence from study, friend-
ship has recently begun to emerge as a central
scholarly object of investigation. Paige E
Digeser’s Friendship Reconsidered is a leading
proponent of the importance that political theo-
rists now place on this human bond. Her work
re-examines the complex links of friendship
and politics, advocating a position between
two extremes: rejection and endorsement.
Separated into three sections, namely, re-
examination of the relationship, its complex
relation to foundations of law, order and justice
and its relevance to the international arena, the
book presents a portrait which builds on recent
research to construct an innovative examina-
tion of both interpersonal and interstate friend-
ship. Friendship is a multi-faceted social bond
encompassing a vast array of cultural, social
and political diversity. It requires a ‘practice-
based’ approach, capable of embracing its
many social, individual and cultural under-
standings (pp. 40 and 52).
Through this lens, the author probes ques-
tions fundamental to the relationship itself:
the link between friendship and motivation,
the utility of self-interest and individuality.
From these foundations, the author advances
to her second section, connecting this
nuanced study to political institutions and the
relationship with civic friendship and its con-
nections to law. In particular, Digeser takes
issue with notions of civic bonds serving as
templates for identity. The scale and com-
plexities of states (with sharply differing cul-
tures and traditions) cannot be imprinted
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