the politics of postmodernity outlines in a clear and coherent manner the implications for political theory that are inherent in philosophical hermeneutics. hermeneutics is not only a general theory of human understanding, it is also, in terms of its practical consequences, a general theory of democracy. this book demonstrates, with reference to current debates, how hermeneutical theory provides the ultimate philosophical justification for democratic practice and universal human rights. one of the books most significant features is the way in which it attempts to work through postmodernism and the way in which throughout it shows how hermeneutics, while fully a form of `postmodern thought, is nevertheless distinctive in this regard in eschewing all forms of relativism and in resolutely defending a nonessentialist universalism. this book will be of interest to all those concerned with the fate of the core values traditionally defended by philosophy and, indeed, with the future of philosophy itself after postmodernity.