Daniel Brunstetters book examines a profound and problematic theoretical divide in early writings about the Native American Other that directly shaped debates about the status of indigenous peoples well into the Enlightenment. Brunstetter thereby reveals how early modern thought framed later discussion in ways that challenge some of the most enduring conceits of modernity. Tensions of Modernity represents a novel and stimulating approach to problems of continuing importance for understanding Western conceptions of Otherness. The book is sure to find a wide and enthusiastic readership among political theorists, historians, anthropologists, philosophers and cultural theorists, including not only advanced scholars but also graduate and undergraduate students.
Cary J. Nederman, Texas A&M University
For half a millennium, from the Spanish Conquest to the Gulf War, the West has been faced with Others conceived of variously as inhuman beasts, savages, barbarians, or, at best, humans equal-but-still-somehow-unequal. What Daniel Brunstetter shows in this darkly enlightening text is the extent to which even supposed Western heroes of toleration, anti-racism, and multiculturalism, like Las Casas and Vitoria, ultimately endorsed a Euro-normative hierarchy of Christian values, rights, and personhood. In the end, the brutal choice has too often come down to Assimilate or die (physical genocide) or Assimilate and die (cultural genocide). The historic lessons for todays crusades, both external and internal, areor should beall too painfully clear.
Charles Mills, Northwestern University
Tensions of Modernity
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10 Ethics and Politics in Contemporary Theory
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12 Multiculturalism, Identity and Rights
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13 Political Theory of Global Justice
A Cosmopolitan Case for the World State Luis Cabrera
14 Democracy, Nationalism and Multiculturalism
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15 Political Reconciliation
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16 National Cultural Autonomy and Its Contemporary Critics
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17 Power and Politics in Poststructuralist Thought
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18 Capabilities Equality
Basic Issues and Problems Edited by Alexander Kaufman
19 Morality and Nationalism
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20 Principles and Political Order
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21 European Integration and the Nationalities Question
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22 Deliberation, Social Choice and Absolutist Democracy
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23 Sexual Justice / Cultural Justice
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24 The International Political Thought of Carl Schmitt
Terror, Liberal War and the Crisis of Global Order Edited by Louiza Odysseos and Fabio Petito
25 In Defense of Human Rights
A Non-Religious Grounding in a Pluralistic World Ari Kohen
26 Logics of Critical Explanation in Social and Political Theory
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27 Political Constructivism
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28 The New Politics of Masculinity
Men, Power and Resistance Fidelma Ashe
29 Citizens and the State
Attitudes in Western Europe and East and Southeast Asia Takashi Inoguchi and Jean Blondel
30 Political Language and Metaphor
Interpreting and Changing the World Edited by Terrell Carver and Jernej Pikalo
31 Political Pluralism and the State
Beyond Sovereignty Marcel Wissenburg
32 Political Evil in a Global Age
Hannah Arendt and International Theory Patrick Hayden
33 Gramsci and Global Politics
Hegemony and Resistance Mark McNally and John Schwarzmantel
34 Democracy and Pluralism
The Political Thought of William E. Connolly Edited by Alan Finlayson
35 Multiculturalism and Moral Conflict
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36 John Stuart MillThought and Influence
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37 Rethinking Gramsci
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38 Autonomy and Identity
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38 Dialectics and Contemporary Politics
Critique and Transformation from Hegel through Post-Marxism John Grant
39 Liberal Democracy as the End of History
Fukuyama and Postmodern Challenges
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40 Deleuze and World Politics
Alter-globalizations and Nomad Science
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41 Utopian Politics
Citizenship and Practice Rhiannon Firth
42 Kant and International Relations Theory
Cosmopolitan Community Building Dora Ion
43 Ethnic Diversity and the Nation State
National Cultural Autonomy Revisited David J. Smith and John Hiden
44 Tensions of Modernity
Las Casas and His Legacy in the French Enlightenment Daniel R. Brunstetter
First published 2012
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brunstetter, Daniel R.
Tensions of modernity : las Casas and his legacy in the French
Enlightenment / Daniel R. Brunstetter.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Human rightsPhilosophyHistory. 2. EqualityPhilosophyHistory. 3. Other (Philosophy)History. 4. Civilization, ModernPhilosophy. 5. Indians, Treatment ofPhilosophyHistory. 6. IndiansFirst contact with Europeans. 7. Difference (Philosophy) 8. GenocidePhilosophy. 9. Casas, Bartolom de las, 14741566Influence. 10. EnlightenmentFrance. I. Title.
JC571.B754 2012
323.101dc23
