New Book : Wendy Brown and Rainer Forst on Tolerance

The Power of Tolerance: A Debate

by Wendy Brown and Rainer Forst

Ed. by Luca Di Blasi and Christoph Holzhey

(Columbia University Press, 2014)

112 pages



Description

Wendy Brown and Rainer Forst debate the uses and misuses of tolerance, an exchange that highlights the fundamental differences in their critical practice despite a number of political similarities. Both scholars address the normative premises, limits, and political implications of various conceptions of tolerance. Brown offers a genealogical critique of contemporary discourses on tolerance in Western liberal societies, focusing on their inherent ties to colonialism and imperialism, and Forst reconstructs an intellectual history of tolerance that attempts to redeem its political virtue in democratic societies. Brown and Forst work from different perspectives and traditions, yet they each remain wary of the subjection and abnegation embodied in toleration discourses, among other issues.

Contents [preview]

1. The Power of Tolerance: A Debate Between Wendy Brown and Rainer Forst

2. Epilogue: Tensions in Tolerance - Luca Di Blasi and Christoph F. E. Holzhey

Wendy Brown is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of "Regulating Aversion: Tolerance in the Age of Empire and Identity" (Princeton University Press, 2006).

Rainer Forst is Professor of Political Theory and Philosophy at Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main. His recent books include "The Right to Justification" (Columbia University Press, 2011), "Toleration in Conflict" (Cambridge University Press, 2013) and "Justification and Critique" (Polity Press, 2013).

The book is based on a discussion in Berlin in 2008. 
See the videos from the event:
* Statement by Wendy Brown
* Statement by Rainer Forst
* Discussion: part 1, part 2, part 3.

A German edition of the book has been published by Turia-Kant Verlag.