The Concealment of the State

Description

Concealing the state frees us from admitting the unpleasant truth—in today’s world we are utterly dependent upon the state’s increasingly frantic efforts to control risk. To this end, states have created systems of coercion and surveillance that are difficult to reconcile with our theories of political legitimacy. The dominant ideology of contemporary politics has become the concealment of the state’s overwhelming power and role in daily life. We prefer the comfortable illusion that we are autonomous individuals pursuing our plans in a free market. If we hold fast to that idea, then our distance from policy makers and dwindling political influence seems less important. Nonetheless, this book draws upon the anarchist tradition and a wide range of accessible policy examples (ranging from military organization and environmental regulations to scientific investment and education) to reveal the active role of contemporary states behind this ideological screen. Lindsey argues that we need a new politics that focuses on exposing and challenging the contemporary state’s hidden agency. Otherwise, how can we democratically control the state when it denies, from the outset, having the ability to meet our demands? Cover Half-title Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments 1 The concealment of the state The politics of concealment Ideology and the state Does the state still exist? A postmodern state? Notes 2 Deep and shallow state The shallow state The deep state Hiding behind the market Concealment of our dependency Notes 3 Theories of the state Formation and evolution of the state The utility and contingency of the state Deeper challenges State, markets, and political legitimacy Notes 4 Engines of oppression Historical dynamics Coercion and the market Surveillance and the market The nonlethal future of coercion Concealing invincibility Notes 5 A postindustrial peasantry? The usefulness of an analogy Cultural similarities Peasants and politics A postindustrial peasantry? Notes 6 Conclusion Revealing the state Intermediaries, representation, and anarchism Challenging the state to act The delusion of violent resistance and so-called direct action Some final questions Notes Bibliography Index