Book review: the misguided search for the political by Lois McNay

In The Misguided Search for the Political, Lois McNay argues that some theories of radical democracy tend to rely on troubling abstractions – or what she terms ‘socially weightless’ thinking. They often propose ideas of the political that are so far removed from the logic of everyday practice that, ultimately, their supposed emancipatory potential is thrown into question. Radical democratic theory should instead attend more closely to a phenomenology of negative social experience. Francesco di Bernardo recommends the book to students of politics and philosophy, after finding some fresh and insightful perspectives on radical democracy.