On Agamben, Arendt, Christianity, and the Dark Arts of Civilization

Many progressives have found passages in Augustines work that suggest he entertained hopes for meaningful political melioration in his time. They also propose that his political theology could be an especially valuable resource for an ethics of democratic citizenship or for hopeful citizenship in our times. Peter Kaufman argues that Augustines political theology offers a compelling, radical alternative to progressive politics. He chronicles Augustines experiments with alternative polities, and pairs Augustines criticisms of political culture with those of Giorgio Agamben and Hannah Arendt. This book argues that the perspectives of pilgrims (Augustine), refugees (Agamben), and pariahs (Arendt) are better staging areas than the perspectives and virtues associated with citizenshipand better for activists interested in genuine political innovation rather than renovation. Kaufman revises the political legacy of Augustine, aiming to influence interdisciplinary conversations among scholars of late antiquity and twenty-first century political theorists, ethicists, and practitioners.