Politik als Spiel

This book presents the history of political performance metaphors in five case studies from German, French and English political thinking: the French Situationist movement, Jean-François Lyotard, Hannah Arendt, theories of agonistic democracy and Jacques Rancière. Metaphors influence political thinking by enhancing the plausibility of some arguments and pushing others into the background. In the 20th century, the metaphors of performance and spectacle acquired a key role in thinking about politics. Since the 1950s the metaphor of theatrical performance has informed an initially critical and then innovative discussion on political representation. The metaphor of agonistic contests contributes to us rethinking democratic conflicts. Both these metaphors serve as a medium with which to conceptualise experiences of contingency.