PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

The lure of technocracy. By Jürgen Habermas. Translated by Ciaran Cronin. Cambridge: Polity. 2015. 176pp. £50.00. isbn 978 0 74568 681 3. Available as e-book. In its first version, published in German in 2013, this book was the twelfth in a series of ‘small political writings’ by Jürgen Habermas. The books in this series contained collections of Habermas's thoughts in diverse formats, such as essays previously published in newspapers, interviews, manuscripts of speeches, etc. Although often concentrated on pertinent issues of their time, some of these writings are thematically more coherent than others—quite unavoidably so. In this context, readers will find a relatively strong focus on the future of European integration in The lure of technocracy. Written in the midst of the euro crisis, the first two parts of the book either deal directly with problems facing European integration—particularly with the problem of democratically legitimizing deeper integration—or they address general conditions that provide the frame for European integration, such as the tension between global capitalism and the national fragmentation of politics. The third part carries the title ‘German Jews, Germans and Jews’ and contains contributions on the legacy and impact of German Jewish thinkers.