Achieving Our World - by Fred Dallmayr (Paperback)

About the Book

In an age marked by global hegemony and festering civilization clashes, Fred Dallmayr's Achieving Our World charts a path toward a cosmopolitan democracy respectful of local differences. Dallmayr draws upon and develops insights from a number of fields: political theory, the s...

Book Synopsis

In an age marked by global hegemony and festering civilization clashes, Fred Dallmayr's Achieving Our World charts a path toward a cosmopolitan democracy respectful of local differences. Dallmayr draws upon and develops insights from a number of fields: political theory, the study of international politics, recent Continental philosophy, and an array of critical cultural disciplines to illustrate and elucidate his thesis. In Achieving Our World, Dallmayr contends that a genuinely global and plural democracy and 'civic culture' is the only viable and promising path for humankind in the new millennium.

Review Quotes

...globalization navigates a path that weaves in and out, between and through, standard categories and false dichotomies. What distinguishes Achieving Our World and Dallmayr's work more generally is the extraordinary care with which he undertakes the journey. Dallmayr writes about globalization from another place, with another spirit. He tells the story of mediations as a mediator, but without compromise on principles.

Achieving Our World is vintage Dallmayr. By this I mean that the book is first a clear and succinct overview of a cluster of literature on a critical issue-in this case it is Globalization and the problem of self-identity-and second, it navigates the precarious waters that run between theory and practice. Dallmayr has been and continues to be in the rare company of such thinkers as Anthony Giddens and Richard Bernstein in his ability to survey and present vast bodies of material in a way that is clear, critical, and timely and then take that survey to a develop a position. Thus, the work functions well on two levels: as a critical survey of important literature and as a further development of Dallmayr's own position within this complex of discussions. He achieves both of these in a style and language that will allow the book to be of interest to specialists and generalists alike.

In Achieving Our World, Fred Dallmayr considers crucial concerns of modern society in an imaginative and insightful way, relying on philosophical and cultural resources in a manner that brings ideas to life. The prose is clear despite dealing with often difficult material. Dallmayr is an excellent 'reader' and interpreter of the most important and contested achievements of postmodern thought. He creatively combines reliance on other thinkers with his own clarifying and independent assessments. These qualities, taken together, make for a fine book.

About the Author

Fred Dallmayr is Packey J. Dee Professor of Political Theory at the University of Notre Dame.