•  31
    Pulcinella, or the metaphysics of the nulla: in between politics and theatre
    History of the Human Sciences 23 (2): 47-67. 2010.
    This article argues that Pulcinella, a figure of classical Italian commedia dell’arte, could also be considered as emblematic for the reordering of politics in the early-modern and modern periods. By placing emphasis on the common underlying theatrical aspects of ‘representation’, it effectively connects the absolutist and democratic periods and helps us to understand why actors and acting came to play such a prominent role in contemporary politics, whether as politicians imitating actors, or as…Read more
  •  28
    The gravity of eros in the contemporary: Introduction to the special section
    with Arpad Szakolczai
    History of the Human Sciences 26 (5): 69-78. 2013.
    The study of eros as passionate devotion leads back to the classical foundations of social and political analysis, in particular Plato’s philosophical anthropology, focusing on imitation and not rationality as the moving force of social life.
  •  16
    Contemporary challenges related to walls, borders and encirclement, such as migration, integration, and endemic historical conflicts, can only be understood properly from a long-term perspective. This book seeks to go beyond conventional definitions of the long duréeby locating the social practice of walling and encirclement in the broadest context of human history, integrating insights from archaeology and anthropology. Such an approach, far from being simply academic, has crucial contemporary …Read more
  •  10
    The Dual Power of the State-Party and Its Grounds
    with Arpad Szakolczai
    Social Research: An International Quarterly 57 275-302. 1990.
  •  9
    The fascination with eros: The role of passionate interests under communism
    History of the Human Sciences 26 (5): 0952695113484319. 2013.
    Plato’s work offers insights into the corrosive impact of eros, insights central for contemporary politics. The article combines an in-depth reading of Plato with a case study, arguing for the relevance of communism. This is because love also establishes a relationship of subordination to the object of desire, which can subjugate and entrap the lover in his or her feelings. Such instrumentalization of eros in communism was promoted by adherents being supposed to love the sufferers. The obligatio…Read more
  •  3
    This book explores politics as a form of alchemy, understood as the transformation of entities through an alteration of their identities. Identifying this process as a common denominator of many political phenomena, such as communism, EU integration, mediatisation or globalisation, the author demonstrates not only the widespread presence of alchemical techniques in politics, but also the acceleration of their deployment. A study of the steady growth of power as it reaches a continuous and perman…Read more
  • Sünde und Unsündlichkeit
    Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie Und Theologie 19 (n/a): 241. 1941.
  • Duplicity, corruption, and exceptionalism in the Romanian experience of modernity (edited book)
    with Manussos Marangudakis and Arpad Szakolczai