Under Observation

When, and in whose interests, did the concept of liberal democracy become politically meaningful? And what is the connection between our analytic concepts and the institutional contexts and the conflicts that they purport to merely describe?

Philip Manow sketches out a conceptual history of our democratic present that is systematically interwoven with the recent developments within political institutions and the crises these have triggered. In doing so, this influential political scientist interprets the current crisis as a consequence of the epochal transformations that were ushered in in 1989/90. In a general sense, Manow reveals that our ontologies have always been historical and thus also always political. And this is particularly true of ontologies of the political.

»There are not too many non-fiction books that actually contain new insights. This is because most of them reproduce a commonly recounted narrative that they believe to be true. After reading Philip Manow’s perceptive book Under Observation, however ... you feel like you’ve just been through a spin cycle: you find yourself rubbing your eyes because you've lost all sense of orientation and no longer know what’s left and right, back and front, up and down.« Ijoma Mangold, DIE ZEIT

»What is entirely original is … the way Manow connects [the processes of constitutionalisation and the entrenchment of the rule of law] with the typical observations of the political public sphere.« Oliver Weber, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

»... an important and thoroughly readable intervention.« Jannik Oestmann, theorieblog.de

»Manow’s analysis is as enlightening as it is provocative, which makes it stand out from mainstream political science. The book is also packed with insightful observations …« Dirk Jörke, Portal für Politikwissenschaft