Being Political: A Quarrelsome View

Abstract

In defining the political it is possible to identify a dominant trend preoccupied with the idea of politics as a positive means of conflict management. This has often overshadowed the alternatives which view politics as a conflictual system of thought and action. Such alternatives can be reinforced by taking seriously the understanding that ordinary people have of what is involved in being political. From this, it is possible to conceive of politics less as a means of creating order, by accommodating diversity and constraint or imposing a general standard or authority, and more as a passionate and quarrelsome activity concerned with promoting conflict and disrupting order.