Honor and Political Imagination

In Honor and Political Imagination, Smita A. Rahman reckons with the enduring power of honor in contemporary political and popular culture and the desire for heroism that accompanies it, while attending to the dangers that such a desire brings. Rahman argues that while there may be a place for honor in the political imagination, it remains a contested and complicated one. Including close readings of honor in popular culture, Rahman explores the tragic cost of the pursuit of honor, but also underlines its ability to inspire heroic political action.

Auteur

Smita A. Rahman is the Johnson Family University Professor of Political Science at DePauw University where she teaches courses in modern, contemporary, and Islamic political thought. Her research interests are in contemporary and comparative political theory, and in politics and popular culture. In particular, she is interested in exploring how foundational concepts in political theory rupture and become contested in a globalized world of difference. She is the author of Time, Memory, and the Politics of Contingency (Routledge, 2014), and co-editor and co-author of Globalizing Political Theory (Routledge, 2022). Her articles and reviews have appeared in Contemporary Political Theory, Theory and Event, and other leading journals.