Category Archives: Books

The Birth of Territory

Posted on September 1, 2010 by stuartelden

The title of most of the lectures I will be giving this autumn will be ‘The Birth of Territory’. It’s increasingly clear to me that this is also the title of the book I’ve been writing, with no complicating subtitle.

Posted in Conferences, My Publications, Territory, The Birth of Territory | 1 Comment

‘P. Baldus’ and the ‘Monastic Peace’

Posted on August 27, 2010 by stuartelden

If the title of this post makes no sense, that’s not by chance. I’ve been spending the day tracking down some of Leibniz’s works, finding as many references as I can, and making a list of things to check at … Continue reading →

Posted in Baldus de Ubaldis, Gottfried Leibniz, Martin Heidegger, Territory, The Birth of Territory | Leave a comment

‘Item is Destroyed’

Posted on August 27, 2010 by stuartelden

That’s the not terribly helpful note in the British Library catalogue for the 1864 Klopp edition of Leibniz’s Werke. Back when the British Library used to be in the British Museum, there was a catalogue entry for books that had … Continue reading →

Posted in Gottfried Leibniz, The Birth of Territory | 1 Comment

Leibniz on Fossils

Posted on August 21, 2010 by stuartelden

In The Shorter Leibniz Texts, edited by Lloyd Strickland, there are a few interesting excerpts from Leibniz’s writings on fossils. (See also Strickland’s translations of Leibniz site here.) Some of these come from the Protegaea, which was published in a bi-lingual … Continue reading →

Posted in Fossils, Gottfried Leibniz, Quentin Meillassoux, The Space of the World | 1 Comment

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