Alexander Stagnell

Människor är verkligen olika, tänker olika, skriver olika, men känner kanske ofta på samma sätt. Vad vet jag? Trots allt, leve mångfalden. Och i den mångfalden kan man ju också få chansen att möta dem som passar en allra bäst.

This innovative new book argues that diplomacy, which emerged out of the French Revolution, has become one of the central Ideological State Apparatuses of the modern democratic nation-state. The book is divided into four thematic parts. The first presents the central concepts and theoretical perspectives derived from the work of Slavoj Žižek, focusing on his understanding of politics, ideology, and the core of the conceptual apparatus of Lacanian psychoanalysis. There then follow three parts treating diplomacy as archi-politics, ultra-politics, and post-politics, respectively highlighting three eras of the modern history of diplomacy from the French Revolution until today. The first part takes on the question of the creation of the term ‘diplomacy’, which took place during the time of the French Revolution. The second part begins with the effects on diplomacy arising from the horrors of the two World Wars. Finally, the third part covers another major shift in Western diplomacy during the last century, the fall of the Soviet Union, and how this transformation shows itself in the field of Diplomacy Studies. The book argues that diplomacy’s primary task is not to be understood as negotiating peace between warring parties, but rather to reproduce the myth of the state’s unity by repressing its fundamental inconsistencies. This book will be of much interest to students of diplomacy studies, political theory, philosophy, and International Relations.

This innovative new book argues that diplomacy, which emerged out of the French Revolution, has become one of the central Ideological State Apparatuses of the modern democratic nation-state. The book is divided into four thematic parts. The first presents the central concepts and theoretical perspectives derived from the work of Slavoj Žižek, focusing on his understanding of politics, ideology, and the core of the conceptual apparatus of Lacanian psychoanalysis. There then follow three parts treating diplomacy as archi-politics, ultra-politics, and post-politics, respectively highlighting three eras of the modern history of diplomacy from the French Revolution until today. The first part takes on the question of the creation of the term ‘diplomacy’, which took place during the time of the French Revolution. The second part begins with the effects on diplomacy arising from the horrors of the two World Wars. Finally, the third part covers another major shift in Western diplomacy during the last century, the fall of the Soviet Union, and how this transformation shows itself in the field of Diplomacy Studies. The book argues that diplomacy’s primary task is not to be understood as negotiating peace between warring parties, but rather to reproduce the myth of the state’s unity by repressing its fundamental inconsistencies. This book will be of much interest to students of diplomacy studies, political theory, philosophy, and International Relations.

Sedan antiken har retoriken anklagats för att vara en omoralisk konst som endast bryr sig om framgång, helt utan hänsyn till det sanna eller det goda. Än idag, mer än tvåtusen år efter Platons förkastelsedom, saknar retorikvetenskapen en ingående diskussion kring frågan om retorikens etik. I Etik, Retorik, Politik - Till tvetydighetens lov söker Alexander Stagnell svar på denna fråga. Bokens första del är en genomgång av de antika retorikernas och sofisternas svar på Platons kritik, samt en undersökning av hur den samtida handbokslitteraturen i Skandinavien hanterar frågan. I den andra delen erbjuder författaren sitt eget svar på frågan om retorikens förhållande till etik.