The Decisionist Imagination: Sovereignty, Social Science and Democracy in the 20th Century

The Decisionist Imagination: Sovereignty, Social Science and Democracy in the 20th Century

In the decades following World War II, the science of decision-making moved from the periphery to the center of transatlantic thought. The Decisionist Imagination explores how “decisionism” emerged from its origins in prewar political theory to become an object of intense social scientific inquiry in the new intellectual and institutional landscapes of the postwar era. By bringing together scholars from a wide variety of disciplines, this volume illuminates how theories of decision shaped numerous techno-scientific aspects of modern governance―helping to explain, in short, how we arrived at where we are today. “ The Decisionist Imagination is more an effort to rethink specific aspects of an existing literature and will find a keen readership amongst those who know it.” • Journal of Contemporary History “ The Decisionist Imagination expertly outlines the development of a key component of social scientific thought, placing it into historical context across the whole of the twentieth century, providing a systematic analysis and evaluation of a core concept present in virtually all academic fields.” • Inderjeet Parmar , City University of London Nicolas Guilhot is Professor of Intellectual History at the European University Institute in Florence. Daniel Bessner is Associate Professor of International Studies in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. Nicolas Guilhot is Professor of Intellectual History at the European University Institute in Florence.