Everyday peacebuilding through democratic political education is a necessary but not sufficient condition for limiting negative political emotions such as anger, fear, and resentment, and for cultivating the political virtues needed for an alternative, more democratic orientation towards power: one that values and exercises power with other members of emergent political communities, not power over them. These demotic political virtues include self-restraint, resistance, humility, respect for the civic dignity of others, non-violent protest, and the radical poise needed to cultivate and coordinate this constellation of political virtues. **** For those who have been forcibly displaced or are only dimly aware of their complicity in this type of political violence, to maintain a radically poised stance is a continuing process of democratic political education. This book demonstrates how this notion of Radical Poise in theory and practice can be developed through a hybrid process of political education in one country, Mali, to contest the growth of violence and fear there and elsewhere.

Introduces the concept of 'radical poise' in peacebuilding Represents a practical alternative to liberal theory as political education and the neo-liberal politics it supports Offers an argument grounded in an actual social practice of hybrid peacebuilding in Mali

Autorentext

Stephen L. Esquith teaches political philosophy, political theory, and peace and justice studies, Michigan State University, USA.

Inhalt

.- The Need for Radical Poise.
.- Introduction.
.- Breaking the Cycles of Violence.
.- The Shifting Context.
.- Everyday Peacebuilding.
.- Towards a Theory of Radical Poise.
.- Countering Negative Political Emotions.
.- Constituting the Power of Politcal Virtue.
.- From the Practice of Radical Poise.
.- Representing Radical Poise.
.- Embodying Radical Poise.
.- Next Steps.
.- Review and Conclusion.