Claude Lefort is one of the leading social and political theorists in                  France today. This anthology of his most important work published over the last four                  decades makes his writing widely accessible to an English-speaking audience for the                  first time.With exceptional skill Lefort combines the analysis of contemporary                  political events with a sensitivity to the history of political thought. His                  critical account of the development of bureaucracy and totalitarianism in the Soviet                  Union and Eastern Europe is a timely contribution to current debates about the                  nature and shortcomings of these societies. His incisive analyses of Marx's theory                  of history and concept of ideology provide the backdrop for a highly original                  account of the role of symbolism in modern societies. While critical of many                  traditional assumptions and doctrines, Lefort develops a political position based on                  a reappraisal of the idea of human rights and a reconsideration of what "democracy"                  means today.The Political Forms of Modern Society is a major contribution to                  contemporary social and political theory. The volume includes a substantial                  introduction that describes the context of Lefort's writings and highlights the                  central themes of his work.Claude Lefort teaches social and political theory at the                  Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris. He was a founder, with                  Cornelius Castoriadis, of the influential independent journal of the left,                  Socialisme ou Barbarie. John B. Thompson is Lecturer in Sociology at the University                  of Cambridge.

The Political Forms of Modern Society: Bureaucracy, Democracy, Totalitarianism PDF

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