Overview

Enthusiasm has long been perceived as a fundamental danger to democratic politics, with many regarding it as a source of instability and irrationalism. Such views can make enthusiasm appear as a direct threat to the reason and order on which democracy is thought to rely. But such a desire for a sober and moderate democratic politics is perilously misleading and ignores the emotional basis on which democracy thrives. Enthusiasm in democracy works to help political actors identify and foster radical changes. We feel enthusiasm at precisely those moments of new beginnings, when politics takes on new shapes and structures. Being clear about how we experience enthusiasm, and how we recognize it, is thus crucial for democracy, which depends on the sharing of power and the alteration of rule. This book traces the shifting understanding of enthusiasm in modern Western political thought. Poe explores how political actors use enthusiasm to motivate allegiances, how we have come to think on the dangers of enthusiasm in democratic politics, and how else we might think about enthusiasm today. From its inception, democracy has relied on a constant affective energy of renewal. By tracing the way this crucial emotional energy is made manifest in political actions from ancient times to the present this book sheds light on the way enthusiasm has been understood by political scientists, philosophers, and political activists, as well as its implications for future democratic politics.

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9781526195685

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Reviews

In Political Enthusiasm, Andrew Poe puts his finger on a critical issue for our time; what to do with our political passions? In this careful and thoughtful study of the concept of enthusiasm, Poe shows us that enthusiasm, far from being something that we should shut out of politics, is in fact its vital source. It is, above all, a democratic affect, a desire for collective power that shows itself especially during times of change such as our own. Rather than cede this power to the far right (as liberalism falsely teaches us), this book shows us how to face rather than hide from intense political affects in a way that serves to bolster rather than undermine and destroy democracy. James Martel, Professor of Political Theory, San Francisco State University, USA -- .

Author Information

Andrew Poe is Associate Professor and teaches social and political thought at the Australian Catholic University, North Sydney

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