Review

Author(s): Catherine A. Holland

Review by: Catherine A. Holland
Source: Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Mar., 2003), pp. 167-168
Published by: American Political Science Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3687833
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Plato'sCallipolisis sustained,but Hesk sug- new insighton how sophisticated rhetorical violencethatoftenattendstheimposition of
geststhat Popper's associationof deceitwith the to
techniquecomplicates struggle discov- the law,and thusdistancethemselves from
antidemocratsmay be toostrict
in lightofthis er truth.He is surelyrightto concludethat theirown implicationin it. "Democracy,"
bitof commongroundbetweenPlatoand an "withoutthatstruggle,wemayas wellgiveup Honig writes,"is alwaysabout livingwith
Athenian democratic Heskthenturns
speaker. on democracy altogether"(p. 298). strangers undera law thatis therefore alien
to howthatcommonground,thenotionthat (becauseit is themongrel productofpolitical
"lyingforthecommongood"might be moral- action-oftengone awry--taken with and
defensible, was addressed in Athenian Democracy andtheForeigner. By 39). In this for-
ly amongstrangers)" (p. respect,
drama. Bonnie Honig. Princeton: PrincetonUniversity eignness constitutes a critical siteatwhichboth
In Chapter4, Heskreturns to legaloratory, Press, 2002.204p.$24.95. the aspirations and the anxietiesthatattend
to examinewaysin whichthe "rhetoric of democratic self-rule aremanaged.
- Catherine A.Holland, UniversityofMissouri
Thatsaid,"thesupplement offoreignness" is
anti-rhetoric"affordedthe skilled public
speakeropportunities bothto employrhetori- Foundingsdependupon foreigners, or more not simplytherapeutic; it "both shores up
cal commonplaces ("youAthenianjurorsall precisely,founding narratives oftenrelyon the (Rousseau)andunsettles (Freud)thepeopleor
know that. . .") and to develop original deviceof theoutsider who appearsas iffrom thelawbeingfounded" (p. 32). Honig'sdemo-
rhetorical challenging
strategies andsubverting nowhere to bringorderwherepreviously there cratic(re)founders transgress as muchas they
those commonplaces (notablyDemosthenes wasnone,to freea peoplefromtheunjustrule transform, taking liberties rather thanwaiting
[AgainstBoeotus] 40.53-54: "Whatever anyone ofa tyrant, andtoactas lawgiver tothelawless. forthemto be granted. This is nota simple
ofyoudoes notknow,lethimassumethathis Democracy and theForeigner addresses thepar- endorsement of self-complacent cosmopoli-
neighbor does not knowit either!").Hesk is adoxicalcentrality oftheforeigner tothepolit- tanism.Democraticself-governance, Honig
particularly good on the oratorAeschines' ical identity of nationsand peoples.Reading argues,requiresa morerobustformof cos-
highly original(ifultimatelyunsuccessful) por- classicworksof politicaltheory(Rousseau, mopolitanism "in whichcosmopolitans risk
trayalofhisopponent Demosthenes as a super- Freud),contemporary debates about multicul- their cosmopolitan (and nationalist) principles
liar,witha uniquecapacity to mimicthechar- turalism, liberaldemocracy, and immigration byengaging others intheirparticularities, while
acteristicstypicalof truth-speakers (vivid policy (Peter Schuck and Rogers Smith, at thesametimedefending, (re)discovering and
detail, exact dates, names of witnesses). MichaelWalzer,RichardRorty),late-modern (re)articulating locateduniversalisms such as
Chapter5 opens with the politicalnovel social theory(Rene Girard,JuliaKristeva, humanrights andtheequaldignity ofpersons"
Primary Colorsby "Anonymous," notingthat WilliamConnolly),biblicalaccountsof the (p. 67). Democratic peoples,then,mustcon-
the playof truthand deceptionis especially origins of a chosen people (Exodus and Ruth), front the inescapable political factthatdemoc-
unsettling to thenovel'sreaderbecauseof its and twentieth-century films(The Wizardof racyentailstrespass as wellas cooperation, and
simultaneous self-presentationas "merefic- Oz, Shane,SimplyBallroom), BonnieHonig that politicalbelongingevokesterrorand
tion"and as an insider's accountof the 1992 offers a richand originalmeditation on the betrayal as muchas hopeandpleasure.
presidentialcampaign. Thissetsup an insight- politicsof home,migration, and democratic BeyondHonig'sincisivereadings, another
ful readingof how Aristophanes' comedy politics. important contribution of this work is an
Acharnians employssimilarly unsettling tech- Distancing herself from the conventional interpretive style that dramatizes rather than
niquesof authorialperspective. This chapter approachesof thehuman,social,and policy simplyadvocatesitsradical,democratic intel-
clearlyshowshowliterary analysiscanenlight- sciences, whichtendto viewforeigners either lectualtemperament. Whiletheprogression of
en problems ofpoliticaltheory andpractice. as a threat to thecultural and linguisticunity thechapters examines a rangeofwaysinwhich
Hesk'sbookdetailshowtroubling theissue ofthenation-state or as a much-needed fount foreignness figuresin democraticthought,
of deceptivespeech is for the democratic of worldliness and diversity, Honig asks not each of these chapters also pursuesalternative
regime,but also showsthatdemocratic cul- howto addresstheproblemorthepromise of interpretive modesand directions, setting out
ture(e.g.,drama,historiography, andpolitical the foreigner but, rather,"What problems widelyvariedand frequently conflicting read-
theory)providesresourceswherebycitizens doesforeignness solveforus?Whydo nations ingsas criticalpolitical-interpretive possibili-
may become more thoughtful about those and democracies relyon the agencyof for- ties.This pluralization of perspective is itself
problems, and so (potentially) morecapable eignness at their vulnerable moments of the sustaining force that helps to hold togeth-
ofconfronting them.He rejectsthepostmod- (re)founding, at whatcost,and forwhatpur- er, withoutassimilating or fragmenting, the
ernistnotionthatthe persistence of "decep- pose?"(p. 4). The imposition of thelaw by positionsthatHoniglaysout. Politicalinter-
tivespeechas a politicalproblem" undermines one who is neither productnormemberof a pretation sheseemsto suggest,
itself, is a dem-
the verypossibilityof truthor reality-a givenpoliticalsocietyservesa critical symbol- ocraticproject,withthe criticoccupyinga
notion exemplifiedfor him by Jean ic function withinpoliticallife,Honig sug- politicalpositionanalogousto the foreign
Baudrillard'sassertionthatit made no sense gests,marking thelaw itselfas aliento those founder:simultaneously givingto, taking
to thinkof the GulfWar as real,giventhe whoaresubjectto it and,in thecaseofdem- from, and refiguring thepoliticallandscape.
conditionsunderwhichit was reported. By ocraticfoundings, whobecomethe(alienated) If thereis a chapterin which Honig's
contrast,in Athens"thereis no sustained subjects of it. democratic-interpretive temperfalterssome-
insistence that truth and lies do not For Honig, democraticfoundingsare what,it is the final,concludingchapter, in
exist. . . . [T]here is no seriousrecommenda- always(re)foundings; theygaintheirfounda- whichshe considersthe questionof genre.
tion that it is a waste of time . . . to under- tionalstatusonlyposthoc,as a peopleclaim Whilethe interpretations developedhereare
standthe difference betweena truthand a thelaw as theirown.The deviceof thefor- verymuchin keepingwiththe restof the
falsehood" (pp. 297-98). Hesk's book eigneroffers democratic citizensa convenient, work,themodeof argumentation somewhat
remindsus of the legitimatecentralityof and perhaps necessary,political fiction, uncharacteristically positions onesetofgeneric
politicalrhetoric
to democracy,yetprovides enablingthemto externalize thesourceofthe conventions,modern gothic, as clearly

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Book Reviews I Political
Theory

superior to itscompetitors, romance, comedy, Politicalis a timelyintervention into these in each particularperiod,especiallygiven
and tragedy. Thismaysimplybe a function of debates.It is a seriesof genealogiesthat that genealogyis the declaredmethod.To
developing a hitherto unmadeargument for describecitizenshipas alterityincities,chrono- giveone example,he provocatively includes
reading democracy as gothic:Perhaps a certain logicallyspanningurban spaces fromthe "squeegeers" as antitheticaltotheaesthetic and
amountof interpretive violenceattendsorigi- Athenianpolis throughthe present-day cos- politicalspaceofcitizenship in thecosmopolis.
nal interpretations, just as it does political mopolis.Takinghismethodological cue from A recentadditionto the urbanlandscape,a
foundings. Nonetheless, one leaves the work Michel Foucault, Isin's genealogiesseek to squeegeer-ratherthan just asking for
witha senseof Honig'shavingmade a case breakup thecontinuous narratives ofcitizen- change-will stake out busy intersections,
aboutgenreandinterpretation thatis,bycom- shipimaginedbythevictorsof history-that offering to clean motorists' windshields in
parisonwiththe restof her argument, only democratic citizenship intheUnitedStates, for exchangeformoney.This enterprising spirit
thinlydeveloped.How mighttheinterpretive example,is thedirectdescendant ofAthenian has been a sourceof consternation forboth
taskof thetheorist be enlivened not (simply) democracy--and revealthe disparateforms suburbancommuters and cityplanners, who
byrereading thedemocratic tradition through thatcitizenship and itsothershavetakenover want to findwaysto monitor, regulate, or
theinsights madeavailablebymoderngothic, time.By exposingthesediscontinuous narra- eliminatetheseactivities. Isin is correctin
but (also) by developingthe gothicreading tivesofcitizenship, Isindemonstrates howthe identifying squeegeers as important and limi-
and
against alongside competing readings gen- fictionofthe unified city serves the interestsof nalfigures in debatesoverwhatcountsas citi-
eratedbythetechniques ofothergenres? Is it dominant groupsbysuppressing theagonistic zenship;however, histreatment ofthesubject
possiblethat the reductiveness that haunts character ofthisspace. is diminished by thefactthatsqueegeers are
moderndemocracy and politicaltheoryalike Yettheforceatworkhereis notthelogicof includedwith"beggars, refugees, and hooli-
mightbe counteredby employing multiple exclusion;as Isinwrites:"The logicof exclu- gans"in a sectionthatlastsonlytwo pages.
interpretive frames that challenge, enliven, and sion assumesthatthe categories of strangers What are the "certainrulesand regulations"
exhilarate? That theseare thekindsof ques- andoutsiders, suchas women,slaves,peasants, squeegeers areencouraged to obey?How pre-
tionsposedbyHonigherself in thebulkofthe metics,immigrants, refugees, and clients, pre- ciselyhave theybeen promptedto thinkof
book,however, faroutweighs herinability to existedcitizenship and that,once defined,it themselves as "entrepreneurs," ratherthan
fullysustain thisat the end. excludedthem"(p. 3). Instead,his central "rights-bearing citizens" (p. 272)? This is just
Democracy andtheForeigner istimely inways claimin eachof thesegenealogies is thatthe one of manyinstances whereIsincouldhave
thatneither itsauthornoranyoneelsecould city in historyfunctionsas a "difference provided richgenealogical detailanddoesnot,
haveforeseen. Giventheexplosion ofxenopho- machine."Ratherthanactingas a container withtheresultthatthisis a suggestive andyet
bia that has accompaniedthe events of thatholdstogether groupsmarked bypreexist- ultimately unsatisfying analysis.
September 11,Honig'sbookprompts readers to ing differences, he contends,the cityis an Second,Isin'sfocuson thecontingent and
distance themselves fromtheimmediacies with activeagentin creating thosegroupsand dif- relational qualities of social groups often ren-
whichquestions aboutimmigrants areso often ferences.In keepingwith Foucault'sideas derstheconditions ofdomination and subor-
freighted, and to thinkmorecomplexly and abouttherelational character ofpower, groups dination(a binarythathe wouldsurelyreject
productively aboutthepolitical andconceptual in thecityexistonlyin relation to oneanoth- foritsstaticsimplicity) toofluidand fleeting.
workaccomplished the
by figure of the foreign- er; othernessis not outside of but is insteada In emphasizing"complexand variegated"
er.Moreimportant perhaps, Democracy andthe condition ofcitizenship (p. 49). ratherthan"rigidanddichotomous" cityscapes
Foreigner is alsoa profoundly untimely book.It For Isin,"beingpolitical"is the"moment (p. 267), he downplays the(sometimes literal-
gentlybut uncompromisingly interrogates the whenthenaturalness of thedominant virtues ly) concrete reificationsofeconomicand cul-
waywe readandthinkaboutdemocracy, about is calledintoquestionand theirarbitrariness turalpoverty in,forexample, housing, welfare,
nationalism, and aboutcosmopolitanism. It is revealed"(p. 275). His pointof departure, and transportation policy.As a result,Being
relentlessly thoughtful, and notsimplynonre- then,is neither thestoriestoldaboutcitizen- Political leavesimportant normative questions
ductive butantireductive. Itlaysouta variety of ship by victorious citizensnor thevoicesof uncovered yetunexplored. Specifically, I was
oftencontentious political andinterpretive pos- thoseexcludedfromthatcategory. Rather, he leftwondering ifsomemodesofbeingpolitical
andbyremaining
sibilities, productively agnos- describes thetacticsbywhichall suchgroups aremorejust,ormoredemocratic, thanothers,
tictowardanyfinalresolution oftheirinternal areconstituted; in hiswords,he examines the andhowthosemodesmightbe encouraged in
conflicts,itdramatizes to us thevalue,therich- "solidaristic, agonistic, andalienating strategies the spaceof the cosmopolis, which is increas-
ness,thecomplexity, and theintellectual chal- and technologies" thattogetherhelp forge, inglystratified by raceand income.That is,
lengesposedbytheforeigner within us. police,and transform variousidentities and Isin neveraddresses thegreatdividebetween
theirattendant values(p. 36). Thesestrategies the professional architect who designsurban
and technologies range fromthesymposia and spaceandthesqueegeer whoattempts towash
BeingPolitical: Genealogiesof thecensususedto fashioncitizensin Athens the architect's windshieldeveryafternoon.
Citizenship.ByEnginIsin. F Minneapolis: and Rometo theritesand rituals
ofMinnesota 2002.384p. utilizedby Here,hisanalysis wouldhavebenefited froma
University Press, thesansculottes to redefine theparameters of moresustainedengagement withcontempo-
$62.95cloth, $24.95paper.
metropolitan citizenship. Isin'scommandofa rarydemocratic theory.
- Margaret E.Farrar, terrific
array of secondary literature resultsin Finally,Isin'sdescriptions of urbancenters
Augustana College
textured
intricately portraits of citiesthatare oftenseemcuriously detachedfromtheirsur-
Overthecourseofthepastyear,we havehad notonlyspacesbutalso processes, whereciti- roundings. Although citiesarecertainly crucial
manyopportunities to reflecton thenatureof zensandtheirothersaremadeandunmade. spacesfortheproduction ofcitizenship, whatis
citizenship. Definingand contesting citizen- The book is not withoutits weaknesses, therelationship betweenurbanand ruralciti-
shipis a high-stakes enterprise, and in lightof however.First,Isin'ssweep throughhistory zens?Arethetechnologies fortheproduction of
the currentclimate,Engin E Isin's Being leavesthereaderwishingformorespecificity citizenship different inplacesthatdo notfitthe

168 March2003 1 Vol.1/No.1

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