Category Archives: Books

Locke, land and coercion

Posted on August 15, 2010 by stuartelden

From Crooked Timber The standard Lockean case for (propertarian) libertarianism rests on the (universally false) assumption that an appropriation of land leaves “enough and as good” for anyone else. As long as land can be stolen from people who are … Continue reading →

Posted in John Locke, Territory, The Birth of Territory | Leave a comment

Gratton on sovereignty

Posted on August 11, 2010 by stuartelden

Peter Gratton replies to two of my recent posts here and here. Both replies have great titles. The first is a discussion of the canon. Peter writes  As someone who wrote an entire chapter on Boulainviller, I’m happy to change … Continue reading →

Posted in Boundaries, Gottfried Leibniz, Jean Bodin, John Locke, Michel Foucault, Peter Gratton, Territory, The Birth of Territory, Walter Ralegh | 3 Comments

Somalia and the question of territory

Posted on August 9, 2010 by stuartelden

Cara Nine at Territory and Justice raises the question of Somalia. Her reference is to a piece in Der Spiegel and some BBC pieces. For her, the question is The case of the failed state is interesting because it forces … Continue reading →

Posted in Boundaries, Politics, Territory, Terror and Territory | 1 Comment

Reading texts, the canon, and historical access

Posted on August 9, 2010 by stuartelden

Having been away for the weekend I feel like the blog debate that has been going on about Derrida and realism has largely passed me by. That’s fine, in a sense, because it’s not something I’m especially concerned with. (You … Continue reading →

Posted in Alain Badiou, Gottfried Leibniz, Jacques Derrida, Jane Bennett, Jean Bodin, Jean Jacques Rousseau, John Locke, Michel Foucault, Robert Filmer, The Birth of Territory, Thomas Hobbes | 2 Comments

Hiking and Reading

Posted on August 9, 2010 by stuartelden

The weekend was spent hiking with Susan and friends in the Peak District, around the village of Edale. On Saturday, we went up to the plateau of Kinder Scout (and got absolutely drenched); and on Sunday up Mam Tor and … Continue reading →

Posted in Gottfried Leibniz, Ian Hacking, Michel Foucault, Stephen Graham, Terror and Territory, Wu Ming | Leave a comment

Hobbes and Rousseau

Posted on August 3, 2010 by stuartelden

I’ve been spending the past couple of days writing up the sections on Hobbes and Rousseau from the fairly extensive notes I’d taken. With Hobbes the focus is on his critique of the temporal/spiritual power division; his engagement with Robert Bellarmine, … Continue reading →

Posted in Gottfried Leibniz, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Territory, The Birth of Territory, Thomas Hobbes | 1 Comment

Rousseau on writing

Posted on August 1, 2010 by stuartelden

In The Discourses and other Early Political Writings there is a very short text entitled ‘Idea of the Method in the Composition of a Book’. Rousseau here makes writing sound deceptively easy:  When one undertakes to write a work, one has … Continue reading →

Posted in Jean Jacques Rousseau, Mapping the Present, Publishing | Leave a comment

Erlangen – academic

Posted on August 1, 2010 by stuartelden

Some academic thoughts on the trip to Erlangen. The lecture seemed to go well. A good size audience in a nice modern lecture room in the castle – now part of the University. Though I knew it was being recorded … Continue reading →

Posted in Andreas Knichen, Conferences, Derek Gregory, Gottfried Leibniz, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Johannes Althusius, Territory, The Birth of Territory | Leave a comment

Erlangen Cultural Geography lecture

Posted on July 27, 2010 by stuartelden

I’m finishing writing the lecture I’ll give in Erlangen tomorrow evening. I think I’ve managed to find a balance between a lecture that will work and one that will be sufficiently different for me to find it interesting. One of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Andreas Knichen, Gottfried Leibniz, Johannes Althusius, Territory, The Birth of Territory | Leave a comment

New Heidegger books

Posted on July 21, 2010 by stuartelden

Continuum are publishing a translation of Phenomenology of Intuition and Expression – details here. That’s volume 59 of the Gesamtausgabe. Klostermann have announced that the next two volumes of the Gesamtausgabe to be published will be volumes 74 and 78. … Continue reading →

Posted in Martin Heidegger, Speaking Against Number | Leave a comment