Thinking in an Emergency

In Thinking in an Emergency, renowned social theorist Elaine Scarry examines one of the most troubling political issues of our time: the "claim of emergency" that modern governments use to undermine democracy and increase executive power. Whether it's engaging in torture, declaring war unconstitutionally, or consolidating individual control over massive nuclear weapons arsenals, leaders have for decades bypassed longstanding legal and constitutional provisions that would expose their actions to democratic debate. As Scarry shows, they are doing it with the tacit approval of their citizens: in our desire for swift national action during times of crisis, we devalue thinking and ignore the procedures designed to limit government power.

Thinking in an Emergency argues persuasively that clear thinking and rapid action are not in opposition. In fact, the most effective marriages of thought and action are the protocols already in place, codified in transnational rescue practices as well as in constitutions and legal systems. Scarry illustrates the success of these memorized protocols at every level—whether one is called on to perform an act of rescue as an individual, as a member of a neighborhood, or as a citizen of a country. Drawing on the work of philosophers, scientists, and artists, and examining regions as diverse as Ethiopia, Switzerland, Canada, and Japan, Scarry makes clear that the practices we are quick to dismiss as mere habit—the procedures intended to govern action during emergencies—are actually representative of thought at its most rigorous and remarkable. Abandoning them in times of political urgency draws us closer to monarchy than it does to effective democratic solutions.

In vivid prose, Scarry lays bare the realities of "emergency" politics and emphasizes what she sees as the ultimate ethical concern: "equality of survival." She reveals how regular citizens can reclaim the power to protect one another and our democratic principles.

Elaine Scarry is the Cabot Professor of Aesthetics at Harvard University and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2000 she received the Truman Capote Award for her writing. In 2005 Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines placed her among the world's one hundred leading public intellectuals.