Messianicity' in Social Theory? A Critique of a Thesis of Jacques Derrida

Bibliographic Data

ID4481980
AuthorsAustin Harrington (0000-0003-4635-2741, University of Leeds, , University of Erfurt, Germany, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume98
Issue1
Pages52-68
Publication date2009-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThesis Eleven (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0725-5136 • E-ISSN: 1461-7455
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0725513609105483
OpenAlexW2045200896
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited20

Jacques Derrida's vision of 'messianicity' in his book Specters of Marx and the essay 'Faith and Knowledge: The Two Sources of "Religion" at the Limits of Reason Alone' has been widely appreciated by scholars. Yet little fundamentally critical engagement appears to have been made with some important historical-sociological questions raised by Derrida's ideas in these texts. Drawing on earlier reference-points in 20th-century critical theory and sociology, the present article argues for some objections to Derrida's presentation of the significance of religious messianism in modern Western social and political thought. The central claim defended is that Derrida invidiously marginalizes some important non-messianistic idioms, sources and traditions of thinking about religious history and its bearing on contemporary social and political self-understanding

Critical theory · Epistemology · Faith · Messianism · Political philosophy · Politics · Social theory · Sociology · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development

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