Additional information
by Patrick Giamario (Author)
Laughter As Politics offers a novel account of laughter's role in contemporary political life. A world awash in hilarity has rendered the traditional philosophical question of whether laughter should play a role in politics obsolete. Faced with the laughter generated by late-night comedians, Twitter trolls, and reality TV presidents, we must instead trace how laughter operates politically. Only an account of gelopolitics - that is, of the concrete practices of and regulations around laughter (gelōs [γέλως]) that shape and reshape a political community - can reveal the possibilities and dangers of the current moment. Through investigations of the accounts of laughter offered by Thomas Hobbes, Theodor Adorno, Ralph Ellison, and feminist and queer thinkers like Hélène Cixous and Judith Butler, this book develops a critical theory of laughter that illuminates laughter as a privileged site wherein the contemporary social order constructs, preserves, and transforms itself politically.
Back Jacket
Explores the role of laughter in constructing, preserving, and transforming contemporary social and political life Politics today is awash with laughter. From the late-night liberal satire machine to the insult comedy of Donald Trump, from comedians winning elected office to religious militants murdering cartoonists: laughter is a key source, object, and means of political discourse and action. In this age of hilarity, the traditional philosophical question of whether laughter should play a role in politics is increasingly obsolete and a focus on how laughter operates politically is needed instead. Laughter as Politics turns to the accounts of laughter offered by Thomas Hobbes, Theodor Adorno, Ralph Ellison, and feminist and queer thinkers like Hélène Cixous and Judith Butler to develop a critical theory of laughter that illuminates laughter as a privileged site wherein the contemporary social order constructs, preserves, and transforms itself politically. This book finds that laughter's outsized presence in the current moment - so much laughter in such dark times - reflects the multiplicity of fascistic dangers and democratic opportunities that this moment affords. Patrick T. Giamario is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Author Biography
Patrick Giamario is Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. He is the author of several journal articles and Laughter as Politics will be his first monograph. Giamario is a political theorist with research interests in critical theory, democratic theory, and the history of political thought. His research has been published in Contemporary Political Theory, Philosophy & Social Criticism, Political Research Quarterly, and Angelaki. He is currently working on a new project on the politics of deception.
