Orwell, Politics, and Power

Orwell, Politics, and Power takes the political writings in Orwell's literary corpus as a source of inspiration for theorizing about contemporary political issues and themes. By looking at Orwell as a political thinker, the book derives a political message from his works that may qualify as contributions to the liberal political thought. The book argues that Orwell's fears about power becoming its own end resulted from his belief that liberal political culture was under attack by social and economic forces that undermined the foundational beliefs and convictions of liberal political morality. The work of a political theorist, this analysis of Orwell's joust with political power is informed not only by the traditional materials of the history of political ideas, but also by the insights of postmodernism and Wittgensteinian language philosophy. Written in a lively, engaging manner, Orwell, Politics, and Power will appeal to anyone studying political theory, literature and politics, as well as utopian and dystopian political writings.

Craig L. Carr teaches political theory in the Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University, USA. He has published several books and numerous articles in the areas of moral and political philosophy, constitutional and international law, and American politics. His latest books include: Liberalism and Pluralism: The Politics of E pluribus unum, and Polity: Political Culture and the Nature of Politics.