Race, Class and Community Identity (Radical Philosophy Today)

The inaugural volume of the new book series Radical Philosophy Today is an anthology of the best papers read at the 1996 Radical Philosophy Association conference. Divided into three sections—"The Production of Race and Ethnicity"; "Past, Present, and Future of Class Analysis"; and "Community Identity, Violence, and the Neoliberal State"—this important, topical collection focuses on the current interests of philosophers within a broad range of leftist orientations. Despite the intransigent nature of many of the problems discussed, the contributors to this volume demonstrate the possibilities for developing a viable alternative politics.

Part one attempts to broaden and deepen discussions of race in philosophical terms, including a critical discussion of "whiteness." Part two critically examines Marxism with an eye toward adapting it more carefully to contemporary "First World" (U.S. society in particular) problems, and shows how Marxist analysis can be expanded to include spiritual and ecological considerations. The final section of the book looks at the radical potential of the communitarian critique of liberalism, discusses insidious violence in relation to the liberal state, and concludes with a critique of Francis Fukuyama's contention that neoliberalism is the only workable political state formation.

The contributors include John Brentlinger, Frank Cunningham, Stephen Hartnett, Thomas M. Jeannot, Joel Kovel, Xiaorong Li, Steve Martinot, Charles W. Mills, Patrick Murray, Richard Peterson, Jeanne Schuler, Tony Smith, and Gabriel Vargas.