The Multivoiced Body

Society and Communication in the Age of Diversity

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Political
Cover of the book The Multivoiced Body by Fred Evans, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Fred Evans ISBN: 9780231519366
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: March 30, 2009
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Fred Evans
ISBN: 9780231519366
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: March 30, 2009
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

Ethnic cleansing and other methods of political and social exclusion continue to thrive in our globalized world, complicating the idea that unity and diversity can exist in the same society. When we emphasize unity, we sacrifice heterogeneity, yet when we stress diversity, we create a plurality of individuals connected only by tenuous circumstance. As long as we remain tethered to these binaries, as long as we are unable to imagine the sort of society we want in an age of diversity, we cannot achieve an enduring solution to conflicts that continue unabated despite our increasing proximity to one another.

By envisioning the public as a multivoiced body, Fred Evans offers a solution to the dilemma of diversity. The multivoiced body is both one and many: heterogeneous voices that at once separate and bind themselves together through their continuous and creative interplay. By focusing on this traditionally undervalued or overlooked notion of voice, Evans shows how we can valorize simultaneously the solidarity, diversity, and richness of society. Moreover, recognition of society as a multivoiced body helps resists the pervasive countertendency to raise a chosen discourse to the level of "one true God," "pure race," or some other "oracle" that eliminates the dynamism of contesting voices.

To support these views, Evans taps the major figures and themes of analytic and continental philosophy as well as modernist, postmodernist, postcolonial, and feminist thought. He also turns to sources outside of philosophy to address the implications of his views for justice, citizenship, democracy, and collective as well as individual rights. Through the seemingly simple conceit of a multivoiced body, Evans straddles both philosophy and political practice, confronting issues of subjectivity, language, communication, and identity. For anyone interested in moving toward a just society and politics, The Multivoiced Body offers an innovative approach to the problems of human diversity and ethical plurality.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Ethnic cleansing and other methods of political and social exclusion continue to thrive in our globalized world, complicating the idea that unity and diversity can exist in the same society. When we emphasize unity, we sacrifice heterogeneity, yet when we stress diversity, we create a plurality of individuals connected only by tenuous circumstance. As long as we remain tethered to these binaries, as long as we are unable to imagine the sort of society we want in an age of diversity, we cannot achieve an enduring solution to conflicts that continue unabated despite our increasing proximity to one another.

By envisioning the public as a multivoiced body, Fred Evans offers a solution to the dilemma of diversity. The multivoiced body is both one and many: heterogeneous voices that at once separate and bind themselves together through their continuous and creative interplay. By focusing on this traditionally undervalued or overlooked notion of voice, Evans shows how we can valorize simultaneously the solidarity, diversity, and richness of society. Moreover, recognition of society as a multivoiced body helps resists the pervasive countertendency to raise a chosen discourse to the level of "one true God," "pure race," or some other "oracle" that eliminates the dynamism of contesting voices.

To support these views, Evans taps the major figures and themes of analytic and continental philosophy as well as modernist, postmodernist, postcolonial, and feminist thought. He also turns to sources outside of philosophy to address the implications of his views for justice, citizenship, democracy, and collective as well as individual rights. Through the seemingly simple conceit of a multivoiced body, Evans straddles both philosophy and political practice, confronting issues of subjectivity, language, communication, and identity. For anyone interested in moving toward a just society and politics, The Multivoiced Body offers an innovative approach to the problems of human diversity and ethical plurality.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book The Holocaust and the Nakba by Fred Evans
Cover of the book The Ecosystem Approach by Fred Evans
Cover of the book The Ultimate Stallone Reader by Fred Evans
Cover of the book Theology, Rhetoric, and Politics in the Eucharistic Controversy, 1078-1079 by Fred Evans
Cover of the book Words on Screen by Fred Evans
Cover of the book Why Civil Resistance Works by Fred Evans
Cover of the book The Undiscovered Country by Fred Evans
Cover of the book Landscape of the Mind by Fred Evans
Cover of the book Rewiring the Real by Fred Evans
Cover of the book Capital of Capital by Fred Evans
Cover of the book Economy, Difference, Empire by Fred Evans
Cover of the book Designing for Growth by Fred Evans
Cover of the book The Story of the Earth in 25 Rocks by Fred Evans
Cover of the book The Cinema of Louis Malle by Fred Evans
Cover of the book Measured Excess by Fred Evans
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy