This thesis responds to the perennial theories of political decline in Western political thought by reimagining politics as a part of the loot plundered by the victors of history. It unpacks and critiques prognostications of the impending end of politics, specifically those of theorists Wendy Brown and Hannah Arendt, by dredging up the colonial and the capitalist logics that covertly underpin assumptions that politics is something that can be exclusively possessed. The forensic treatment of narratives of political decline reveals the unmistakable tracks of the rationality of property relations behind laments over the fate of political traditions that also withhold political sympathies for those confined from or within such traditions. Furthermore, by uncovering the anxiety of the looting of political inheritances present within the fear of political decline, this thesis shows how the apprehension of politics falling into the wrong hands is often embedded within the terrible fantasies of the passing of a political tradition.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis responds to the perennial theories of political decline in Western political thought by reimagining politics as a part of the loot plundered by the victors of history. It unpacks and critiques prognostications of the impending end of politics, specifically those of theorists Wendy Brown and Hannah Arendt, by dredging up the colonial and the capitalist logics that covertly underpin assumptions that politics is something that can be exclusively possessed. The forensic treatment of narratives of political decline reveals the unmistakable tracks of the rationality of property relations behind laments over the fate of political traditions that also withhold political sympathies for those confined from or within such traditions. Furthermore, by uncovering the anxiety of the looting of political inheritances present within the fear of political decline, this thesis shows how the apprehension of politics falling into the wrong hands is often embedded within the terrible fantasies of the passing of a political tradition.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ward, Milo"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Master","degree_discipline":"Political Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Susan Buck-Morss"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:54Z","subjects":["American Politics","Ethics and Political Philosophy","Political Theory","Wendy Brown","Hannah Arendt","Walter Benjamin","Theodore Adorno","Little Rock","Global South"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2695","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Susan Buck-Morss"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ward, Milo"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-04-24T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Political Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["American Politics","Ethics and Political Philosophy","Political Theory","Wendy Brown","Hannah Arendt","Walter Benjamin","Theodore Adorno","Little Rock","Global South"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2695"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis responds to the perennial theories of political decline in Western political thought by reimagining politics as a part of the loot plundered by the victors of history. It unpacks and critiques prognostications of the impending end of politics, specifically those of theorists Wendy Brown and Hannah Arendt, by dredging up the colonial and the capitalist logics that covertly underpin assumptions that politics is something that can be exclusively possessed. The forensic treatment of narratives of political decline reveals the unmistakable tracks of the rationality of property relations behind laments over the fate of political traditions that also withhold political sympathies for those confined from or within such traditions. Furthermore, by uncovering the anxiety of the looting of political inheritances present within the fear of political decline, this thesis shows how the apprehension of politics falling into the wrong hands is often embedded within the terrible fantasies of the passing of a political tradition.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Politics as Loot: Reflections on Theories of Decline in Political Thought"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Susan Buck-Morss"],"dc:creator":["Ward, Milo"],"dc:date.available":["2018-04-24T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis responds to the perennial theories of political decline in Western political thought by reimagining politics as a part of the loot plundered by the victors of history. It unpacks and critiques prognostications of the impending end of politics, specifically those of theorists Wendy Brown and Hannah Arendt, by dredging up the colonial and the capitalist logics that covertly underpin assumptions that politics is something that can be exclusively possessed. The forensic treatment of narratives of political decline reveals the unmistakable tracks of the rationality of property relations behind laments over the fate of political traditions that also withhold political sympathies for those confined from or within such traditions. Furthermore, by uncovering the anxiety of the looting of political inheritances present within the fear of political decline, this thesis shows how the apprehension of politics falling into the wrong hands is often embedded within the terrible fantasies of the passing of a political tradition.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2695"],"dc:subject":["American Politics","Ethics and Political Philosophy","Political Theory","Wendy Brown","Hannah Arendt","Walter Benjamin","Theodore Adorno","Little Rock","Global South"],"dc:title":["Politics as Loot: Reflections on Theories of Decline in Political Thought"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Political Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:54Z"}