Pyropolitics. Fire and Politics. Michael Marder

From the burning of books and heretics at the stakes of the Inquisition to the self-immolations of protesters, from the global burning of oil to inflammatory political speeches, from revolutionary sparks capable of igniting the spirit of the oppressed to car explosions in the Middle East, fire is an inseparable element of human political life. In Pyropolitics, Michael Marder creates a semantic and discursive field saturated with literal and metaphorical references and uses of fire, flames, sparks, self-immolations, combustions, and arson in political theory and practice.

Drawing on classical political theory, literature, theology, modern philosophy, and analysis of current events, Marder shows that geopolitics—the politics of the Earth—has always had an unstable, shadowy, and dazzling flip side: pyropolitics—the politics of fire. As this hidden twin of geopolitics increasingly defines the rules of the game in the modern world, it is vital to learn to speak its language, recognize its manifestations, and predict the direction in which our burning world is moving.

This edition is supplemented by a foreword by Slavoj Žižek and three new chapters.