Book Reviews: Political Theory
| Published date | 01 September 2010 |
| Date | 01 September 2010 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-9302.2010.00217_1.x |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book Reviews
Political Theory
Minerva’s Owl: The Tradition of Western Politi-
cal Thought by Jeffrey Abramson. London: Harvard
University Press, 2009. 388pp., £22.95, ISBN 978 0
674 03265 1
As its title suggests, this volume is a review of the
history of political ideas. Jeffrey Abramson is Professor
of Government and Law at the University of Texas
and the purpose of this book is to offer a ‘canon of
political thought’ based on his lessons about the most
representative books in the Western legacy.psr_217375..448
The first chapters examine the roots of this heritage.
The four initial chapters deal with Plato’s Republic,
which is the foundational book of the European politi-
cal tradition. Chapters 5 and 6 are then devoted to
Ethics and Politics by Aristotle,and the next chapter is a
review of Confessions and City of God. Abramson does
not include the late Middle Ages, but he links ancient
and modern politics by summarising the main ques-
tions in The Prince by Machiavelli.
The second half of Abramson’s book focuses on
modern politics. First come reviews of Hobbes (Levia-
than), Locke (Second Treatise) and Rousseau (Confessions,
Discourse on Inequality and Social Contract). Then Kant
(Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and Perpetual
Peace) and Mill (On Liberty), followed by Hegel and
Marx (taken together in one chapter).The final chapter
is devoted to Rawls and his revival of political thought.
In fact, this book is greatly influenced by Rawls, and
the explanation of modern political theory may be
compared with Rawls’ own Lectures on the History of
Political Philosophy.
The central thesis of this book is that the whole of
political theory needs the flight of Minerva’s owl: that
is to say, there is a need to confront the present with
the past. As Abramson writes, ‘we read the classical
authors best when we argue with them ... we owe the
great thinkers of the past due deference for their deep
insights’ (p. 346).Therefore, he under stands this legacy
as a conversation of the philosophers with their past.
In conclusion, Abramson’s main purpose is to intro-
duce students and general readers to the history of
politics. Perhaps it will not be easy for students to grasp
the ironical sense of many of the passages, but Abram-
son peppers his book with anecdotes because he con-
siders that it is very important to provoke the reader to
ask some questions and the informal tone mixes with
his deep ideas. He explains the historical development
of politics with great elegance and pedagogical sense
and consequently this is an excellent introductory book
for beginners and scholars alike.
Rafael Ramis Barceló
(Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona)
Shaping History: Narratives of Political Change
by Molly Andrews. Cambridge: Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 2007. 223pp., £17.99, ISBN 978 0 521
60469 7
Shaping History is an interdisciplinary book about the
shaping of political identities in the late twentieth
century.This refreshing addendum in political theory
focuses on political narratives, or how individuals
express what they have experienced personally and
collectively. As Molly Andrews puts it, ‘This book is
about the relationship between the stories people tell
about their lives, and the political frameworks which
form the context for those stories’ (p. 2). The author
and editor of many books on narrative theories,
Andrews is an authority in her emerging field. She
argues that individual stories and testimonies often
carry a political dimension: ‘When we relate stories of
our lives, we implicitly communicate to others some-
thing of our political worldviews, our Weltanschauung’
(p.2). This is particularly true when the world is chang-
ing abruptly, when nothing seems the same any more.
POLITICAL STUDIES REVIEW: 2010 VOL 8, 375–448
© 2010 TheAuthors. Journal compilation © 2010 Political Studies Association
Four case studies are presented, using interviews
with ‘ordinary’ individuals and analysis of correspon-
dence (e.g. personal letters) collected by Andrews
through various qualitative methodologies, in order to
understand political change as lived by some average
citizens (as opposed to influential personalities or
political leaders). Examples are: (1) advocates for social
change during the period of Thatcherism in England;
(2) the process of national identity-building in the new
post-apartheid South Africa; (3) expressions of patrio-
tism in the US during the first Gulf War; and (4) the
daily experience of the fall of the Berlin Wall for
dissidents living in the former East Germany. These
inner, individual stories are then compared to ‘the offi-
cial history’ in local newspapers.Calling for the need to
take a contextual look at history,Andrews refers in her
conclusion to C.Wr ight Mills in his classic essay ‘The
Sociological Imagination’ when she urges historians
and political scientists to keep an eye on ‘the dynamic
tension between biography and history’ (p. 209).
Shaping History is a sound and original book which
will appeal to graduates in history, citizenship studies,
political sociology,cultural studies and political science.
In contrast to most research in public opinion or politi-
cal marketing, the author uses qualitative methodolo-
gies instead of surveys, and focuses on individuals or
small groups. Topics related to political imagination,
national memory, collective identity, nation building,
the social construction of society and social theory are
introduced and articulated in a fascinating way (p.174).
One has to remember that narrative research is not
only useful for studies in sociology of everyday life,but
can be used in many ways in political studies.
Yves Laberge
(Université Laval, Quebec)
The Idea of Human Rights by Charles R. Beitz.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. 235pp.,
£16.99, ISBN 978 0 19 957245 8
In this book Charles Beitz addresses the idea of human
rights as both a practice and an aspiration.The author’s
fundamental argument is that human rights can be
better understood when looked at sui generis, rather
than as the application of a received idea. Beitz there-
fore takes what he calls a‘practical’ approach, presenting
a model of human rights which is distinct from philo-
sophical perspectives that conceive of human rights as
having ‘an existence in the moral order that can be
grasped independently of their embodiment in inter-
national doctrine and practice’ (p. 7). In doing so the
author devotes chapters to the practice of human rights
as it exists today, and an outline of naturalistic and
agreement theories of human rights, before moving on
to his own model in a chapter titled ‘A Fresh Start’. In
the chapters that follow attention is paid to the possi-
bility of normativity and the idea of international
concern – which for Beitz is an essential tenet of
human rights.The book will be of interest to advanced
scholars of human rights. It may also appeal to students
new to the concept and its implementation as early
chapters outline clearly the history of both the idea and
its practical application.
The author is successful in his goal of proposing an
alternative perspective on human rights which seeks to
reconcile the disjuncture between theory and practice.
The arguments made are convincing and, in the words
of the author,‘the effect of exhibiting a conception of
human rights more in keeping with the existing prac-
tice is to raise the question why we should accept the
received view as a basis for criticising the practice’s
content and reach’ (p. 199).There are criticisms to be
made of the author’s model, the most obviousof which
Beitz anticipates and addresses accordingly. For me, the
least convincing of these is the discussion of the overly
individualistic conception of human rights taken in the
model. Suggesting that individuals may claim rights
on the basis of their membership of a group fails
adequately to account for the presence of collective
identities that do not fit within the schema of indi-
vidualism favoured by the world’s hegemonic societies.
However, this is a minor quibble within the context of
the book as a whole.This is an innovative, well-argued
and well-written text which makes a useful contribu-
tion to the political theory of human rights.
Lucy Mayblin
(University of Warwick)
Grounding Cosmopolitanism: From Kant to the
Idea of a Cosmopolitan Constitution by Garrett
Wallace Brown. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press, 2009.234pp., £60.00, ISBN 978 0 7486 3881 9
In this excellent book Garrett Brown outlines and
defends Kant’s cosmopolitan political theory. He aims
to show that Kant’s theory can be developed into the
376 POLITICAL THEORY
© 2010 TheAuthors. Journal compilation © 2010 Political Studies Association
Political Studies Review: 2010, 8(3)
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