| Legal and Rhetorical Foundations of Economic Globalization: An Atlas of Ritual Sacrifice in Late-Capitalism Subjects: Economics Finance Business & Industry; Language & Literature; Law; Politics & International Relations; Social Sciences; Public Law; Jurisprudence & General Issues; Legal Theory; Socio-Legal Studies; Government; International Political Economy; Political Philosophy; Economics; Language & Linguistics; International Law - Law; Anthropology - Soc Sci; Sociology & Social Policy; Economic Theory & Philosophy; Political Economy; Language and Communication; International Trade & Economic Law; Private International Law; Public International Law; Jurisprudence & Philosophy of Law; Socio-Legal Studies - Public Policy; Socio-Legal Studies - International Law & Politics; Globalization; Globalisation; Political & Economic Anthropology; Political Sociology; This book examines the subtle ways in which rhetorics of sacrifice have been re-appropriated into the workings of the global political economy in the 21st century. It presents an in-depth analysis of the ways in which ritual practices are deployed, under a diverse set of political and legal contexts, as legitimation devices in rendering exploitative structures of the prevailing political-economic system to appear inescapable, or even palatable. To this end, this work explores the deeper rhetorical and legal basis of late-capitalist governmentality by critically interrogating its mythical and ritual dimensions. The analysis gives due consideration to the contemporary incarnations of ritual sacrifice in the transnational neoliberal discourse: from those exploitative yet inescapable contractual obligations, to calendrical multi-billion dollar 'offerings' to the insatiable needs of 'too-big-to-fail' corporations. Dr Keren Wang is a rhetorical theorist and political communication scholar. He currently teaches rhetoric and message analysis in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University, USA. His published academic works cover topics such as transnational rhetorics, social change, rhetorics of law, human rights discourse, and political legitimacy. |