Making Enemies [Hardcover]

Whom a prime minister or president will not shake hands with is still more noticed than with whom they will. Public identity can afford to be ambiguous about friends, but not about enemies. Barker examines the accounts of how enmity functions in the cultivation of identity, how essential or avoidable it is, and what the global consequences are.Accounts of Enmity in Politics and Government Competition, Antagonism and Enmity Patterns of Enmity: Varieties of Narrative Contexts of Enmity Narratives The Language and Imagery of Enmity Telling the Enmity Narrative Enemies of the People Demonization: The Frenzy of Enmity Narratives of Contention Enmity Narratives, Politics and Peacefulness

'...scholars and postgraduate students will find much to ponder in this book, including fascinating insights into the evolution of the public identites of the Labour and Conservative parties since 1989...[a] highly stimulating study.' - Marc Calvini-Lefebvre, Political Studies Review

RODNEY BARKER is Professor of Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Gresham Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College. He broadcasts frequently, and has been opera critic of Tribune. Recent publications include Legitimating Identities: The Self-presentations of Rulers and Subjects and Political Ideas in Modern Britain In and After the Twentieth Century.