Kari Palonen : Re-thinking politics : essays from a quarter-century

Kari Palonen approaches the temporal and contingent activity of politics from four different angles. In the first section, his focus is on the ideal typical distinctions and classifications which may render the act of speaking about politics intelligible without reducing its contingency, thus allowing for variation amongst the "pure" types. In the second section, the dissolution of the unity and givenness of politics is analysed through conceptual history. The two last sections highlight the shift from being to doing. Instead of asking "What 'is' politics?", Palonen asks "What are individuals actually 'doing' when they are "acting politically"?