Theory in an Uneven World

How can we handle the unevenness between the West and the Rest? How inevitable is the binary logic of winners and losers? How can theory help us resolve our ethical and political problems? Can theory help us think beyond the winner talks all model by articulating strong connections between ethics and politics?

This major intervention into debates about the postcolonial and the global proposes that theory should embody unevenness. Radhakrishnan s thought–provoking engagement with theorists and writers from around the world will fascinate readers across a wide range of disciplines.

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

1. Postmodernism and the Rest of the World.

2. The Use and Abuse of Multiculturalism.

3. Globalization, Desire, and the Politics of Representation.

4. Derivative Discourses and the Problem of Signification.

5. Theory in an Uneven World.

Notes.

Index

R. Radhakrishnan is Professor of English at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of Diasporic Mediations: Between Home and Location (University of Minnesota Press, 1996). His articles and essays have appeared in a wide range of scholarly journals and in collections such as Nationalisms and Sexualities (Ed. Parker, Russo, Sommer and Yaeger, Routledge, 1992), The Nature and Context of Minority Discourse (ed. Mohamed and Lloyd, OUP, 1991), Orientations: Mapping Studies in the Asian Diaspora (ed. Chuh and Shimakawa, Duke University Press, 2001) and Identities: Race, Class, Gender, Nationality (Ed. Alcoff and Mendieta, Blackwell 2003).

"R. Radhakrishnan belongs to a generation of critics which has enriched contemporary literature by revolutionizing the literary canon. He is one of the foremost of this generation and deservedly so." Amitav Ghosh, author of The Glass Palace <!––end––>

"Written with a magnanimous spirit and vision, Theory in an Uneven World is a welcome reminder of the challenges theoretical thinking continues to pose. I applaud R. Radhakrishnan for countering the fashionable gesture of theory–bashing with such intensely engaging critical discussions." Rey Chow, Brown University

"In a world ridden with unevenness, Radhakrishnan s intense analyses invoke the need for shattering the self–reflexive discourses of the academy so as to open them up to the demands of the oppressed." Robert J.C. Young, New York University