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This book offers a response to the democratic crisis of our time. Drawing on the rich rhetorical tradition, it recovers a distinct Mediterranean current shaped by figures such as Isocrates, Quintilian, and Giambattista Vico that provides compelling theoretical alternatives. Contemporary democracy, the book argues, can be significantly enriched by this legacy. It explores its connections to the political theory that challenged the positivist political science, its resistance to the propaganda typical of tyrannies, and its inclusive ethos grounded in a reverence for difference resonating with Hannah Arendt s notion of freedom of movement, both in the world and in thought.
The rhetorical perspective developed here contributes to rethinking 'the political' as envisioned by Arendt and Sheldon Wolin, in opposition to the Schmittian conception recently revived by populism. In doing so, the book demonstrates the potential of rhetorical thought to renew the principles of radical democracy in the face of contemporary challenges.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Boundaries for a New Science.- Chapter 2: A Defense of Political Theory.- Chapter 3: Hannah Arendt and the Lost Pearls of Walter Benjamin.- Chapter 4 The Political Theory of Isocrates and Quintilian.- Chapter 5: Giambattista Vico: Insights for Democratic (Re)Construction.- Chapter 6: Freedom of Movement in Hannah Arendt.- Chapter 7: The Political First: the Moment of Arendt and Wolin.
About the author
Víctor Alonso-Rocafort is Associate Professor of Political Theory at Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Spain, where his research explores rhetoric, radical democracy, and environmental political theory.
Summary
This book offers a response to the democratic crisis of our time. Drawing on the rich rhetorical tradition, it recovers a distinct Mediterranean current—shaped by figures such as Isocrates, Quintilian, and Giambattista Vico—that provides compelling theoretical alternatives. Contemporary democracy, the book argues, can be significantly enriched by this legacy. It explores its connections to the political theory that challenged the positivist political science, its resistance to the propaganda typical of tyrannies, and its inclusive ethos grounded in a reverence for difference—resonating with Hannah Arendt’s notion of freedom of movement, both in the world and in thought.
The rhetorical perspective developed here contributes to rethinking 'the political' as envisioned by Arendt and Sheldon Wolin, in opposition to the Schmittian conception recently revived by populism. In doing so, the book demonstrates the potential of rhetorical thought to renew the principles of radical democracy in the face of contemporary challenges.
