In Nostalgia and Political Theory, Lawrence Quill advocates the central importance of nostalgia as a theoretical response to the ‘historic’ past and a vertiginous present. He does so by offering detailed analyses of diverse theoretical approaches, from the ancient world to the modern day, in order to reassess the relation between nostalgia and politics. Quill proposes nostalgia as an organizing concept, silently (and not so silently) influencing theorists as they construct critiques of the present or visions of the political future.
Nostalgia and Political Theory surveys key contributions to nostalgic and antinostalgic thinking from across the political spectrum. Assessing the influence of photography, radio, television, and personal computing on changing conceptions of the past, Quill also considers the relation between populism, nationalism, and nostalgia. By challenging those who would dismiss nostalgia as irrational or a symptom of cultural malaise, Quill concludes by advancing the case for a liberal theory of nostalgia.
Nostalgia and Political Theory will be of interest to scholars and students in the fields of political theory, social theory, sociology, philosophy, political science, memory studies, and nostalgia studies.
Preface
Introduction
1 Pre-modernity and Nostalgia
2 An Emotional Contract
3 Inventing the Past
4 Nostalgia and Exile
5 Mediating Nostalgia
6 Consuming Nostalgia
7 Populism and Nostalgia
Conclusion
Index
Biography
Lawrence Quill is Professor of Political Science at San José State University in California, where he teaches political theory. A Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University’s Center for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CRASSH), his current research focuses on technology and politics.
Nostalgia and Political Theory is an absolute treasure trove for anyone interested in understanding nostalgia within a historical and political context. Lawerence Quill shows in an accessible and comprehensible manner how and why nostalgia continues to serve as an important source for the political imagination. By linking nostalgia to different technologies, Quill makes nostalgia relevant to personal identity, political theory as well as to populist appropriation.
Michael Hviid Jacobsen, Professor of Sociology, Aalborg University, Denmark.
Traversing a gauntlet of historical, political, and technological ideas related to nostalgia in thoughtful, thorough, and eye-opening ways, Nostalgia and Political Theory is an important and fresh contribution to Nostalgia Studies. I learned so much about a topic I thought I already knew a good deal about. Lawrence Quill has a way of writing about nostalgia that makes putting this book down impossible. Highly recommended to scholars and nostalgia enthusiasts alike!
Ryan Lizardi, Associate Professor, Digital Media Design and Humanities at SUNY Polytechnic Institute
All human beings yearn to reconcile with their origins. Despite the best efforts of those who would deny that such an endeavor is possible, we continue to push against the constraints of memory in order to heal divisions within ourselves and our societies. This 'search for home' that is deeply rooted in the human psyche is the subject of Lawrence Quill's magisterial Nostalgia and Political Theory. A meticulously researched and eloquent book, it traces the history of nostalgia as a political concept from the dawn of civilization to the digital age. Brimming with erudition, it demonstrates the truth of Edmund Burke's conviction that 'People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors'. Indeed, there is no other book available that so comprehensively analyses this vital subject, and none that will so persuasively convince the reader of its necessity to any life worth living.
Mark Dooley, Irish philosopher, writer, and journalist
No matter what sort of interest brings you to the subject of nostalgia – whether you’re critical, curious, or perhaps even a bit of a nostalgic yourself – Nostalgia and Political Theory, packed with provocative claims and ranging far and wide over the history of political thought, has something for you. From Hesiod’s Works and Days to the Rucellai Gardens, from Livy’s History to Thoreau’s cabin on Walden Pond, and from nineteenth-century photography to the iPhone, Professor Quill engages with a range of thinkers alienated from the world around them and eager to find comfort – and often revolutionary insight – in a purported past.
Andrew Murphy, Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan
