Small Wonder

Small Wonder presents the dangers of the 'underside of modernity': the unleashing of unlimited lust for (global) power and wealth. Relying on leading critical intellectuals, Dallmayr offers a critique of the self-deceptions of our age, arguing in favor of the cultivation of the 'small wonder' of everyday life.

Small Wonder is an extraordinary book in both its philosophical richness and its poetic evocation of a vision of hope that does not falter before the direness of our time. Dallmayr brings his vast erudition of the philosophical tradition to bear onsome of the most burning issues that any critical theory has to face in today?s world. It is a beautiful and somber book that reminds us of our responsibility to take notice of those ways in which a new world is being brought into being in the crevices and cracks of our everyday activities..., There is no single conclusion to be drawn from Small Wonder, but rather little pockets of hope within the text. With the multitude of topics approached, Dallmayr avoids prescribing a totalizing thought to rescue us from empire in its many forms, but provides a book which will speak differently to each reader. The disparate topics allow the reader to focus on particular aspects, but also remind them to adopt a holistic image of thought. Finally, the biggest contribution of Small Wonder is Dallmayr's employment of a more 'practical philosophy' approach to global politics, which successfully interconnects the theoretical and the empirical., Small Wonder draws on a brilliant palate of thinkers-in Western and non-Western political theory, Frankfurt School critical theory, twentieth century Continental philosophy, post-colonial theory and literature-to argue artfully against empire and for peaceful global governance. Dallmyer's orientation is at once perspectival and global, deeply learned and politically urgent, fierce, humble, and generous. This is an erudite and compelling work of political theory, but it is also a beacon of hope and a tribute to thinking in a wretched historical time., Small Wonder is an extraordinary book in both its philosophical richness and its poetic evocation of a vision of hope that does not falter before the direness of our time. Dallmayr brings his vast erudition of the philosophical tradition to bear on some of the most burning issues that any critical theory has to face in today’s world. It is a beautiful and somber book that reminds us of our responsibility to take notice of those ways in which a new world is being brought into being in the crevices and cracks of our everyday activities.

Fred Dallmayr is Packey J. Dee Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame