Games of Contingency

This book offers reflections and applications of politics as an activity. It focuses on a selection of Kari Palonen's work over the last 15 years. It is linked to the complex world of parliaments from rhetorical and procedural perspectives, originally inspired by Max Weber and Quentin Skinner as well as by older books on British parliamentary rhetoric and procedural commentaries. The volume illustrates the methodology and the practices of both textual analysis and of using political imagination also in contexts, which do not immediately appear as political. It's divided into three sections, the first dealing with typical conceptualisations, the second analysing debates and texts in parliament and beyond, the third looking at politicisation in different levels and contexts, especially around the European Union.

Develops intuitive yet provocative ideas for an understanding of 'politics' as an aspect of human action Offers a unique Blend of Rhetoric, Conceptual History, and Political Imagination Provides a curated selection of essays situating the author's intellectual journey

Autorentext

Kari Palonen is Emeritus Professor at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. He was the co-founder of the History of Concepts Group (1998) and of the present journal Redescriptions. He is member of Academia Europea.

Kari Palonen has published extensively in English, German and Finnish on the concept of politics and its history, on the principles and practices of conceptual history, on the political thought of Max Weber and on the political theory, rhetoric and procedure of parliamentarism.

Recent books include: At the Origins of Parliamentary Europe. Supranational parliamentary government in debates of the Ad Hoc Assembly for European Political Community in 19521953 (2024); Niilo Kauppi & Kari Palonen (eds), Rhetoric and Bricolage in European Politics and Beyond. The Political Mind in Action (Palgrave, 2022); Politik als parlamentarischer Begriff. Perspektiven aus den Plenardebatten des Deutschen Bundestags (2021) Max Webers Begriffspolitik. Aufsätze aus zwei Jahrzehnten (2019): Parliamentary Thinking. Procedure, Rhetoric and Time (Palgrave, 2018).

Inhalt

Introduction by Claudia Wiesner.- I CONCEPTUALISING POLITICS.- 1 Paradigms for Political Action.- A draft for a repertoire.- 2 Football as Political Action. Analysing conceptual disputes.- 3 Politics at Distance: Parliamentary politics in the face of new challenges.- II POLITICS IN DEBATES.- 4 Conceptual Explorations around 'Politics'.- Thematising the activity of politics in the plenary debates of the German Bundestag.- 5 'We Politicians': Translation, rhetoric and conceptual change.- 6 POLITIIKKA.- Politics in Finnish. Unpublished translation from 'Politiikka' by William Hellberg.- III POLITICISATIONS.- 7 European Union as an Agency of Politicisation.- Redescriptions 17, 2014: 133139.- 8 Parliamentarisation as Politicisation.- 9 Politicisation as a Speech Act.- A repertoire for analysing politicisation in parliamentary plenary debates.- POSTSCRIPT.