On Rationality

Rationality is an enduring topic of interest across the disciplines and has become even more so, given the current crises that are unfolding in our society. The four books reviewed here, which are written by academics working in economics, political science, political theory and philosophy, provide an interdisciplinary engagement with the idea of rationality and the way it has shaped the institutional frameworks and global political economy of our time. Rational choice theory has certainly proved to be a useful analytic tool in certain contexts, and instrumental reason has been a key tenet of human progress in several periods of history, including the industrial revolution and the modernity that emerged in the nineteenth century. Given the complexity of our current challenges, however, is it time to ask whether this paradigm might be better complemented by more holistic and heterodox approaches?

Hindmoor A and Taylor TY (2015) Rational Choice (Political Analysis), 2nd edn. London; New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Massumi (2015) The Power at the End of the Economy. Durham: Duke University Press.

Brown (2015) Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution. New York: Zone Books.

Ludovisi SG (ed.) (2015) Critical Theory and the Challenge of Praxis: Beyond Reification. Farnham; Burlington, VT: Ashgate.