Challenging the linear view of history which confines or predetermines the outcome of politics, this book argues for an 'untimely' politics, rendering the past problematic and the future unpredictable. Untimely Politics offers close readings of key texts in political theory and enters into debates involving metaphysics, philosophy of language, and psychoanalysis versus discursive analysis - all designed to demonstrate that untimeliness expands the scope of the political. The ideas are weaved together around the theme of the relevance of language analysis to political debate, answering those critics who insist discourse approaches to politics are irrelevant. Calling on key texts of Heidegger, Nietzsche, Foucault and Derrida the book challenges the political burden which is placed on language analysis to prove its value in the real world. To demonstrate his arguments, Samuel Chambers uses the case study of same-sex marriage in the US to interrogate family values politics. In seeking to explore the bearing of contemporary theory on practical political life, this book makes a timely plea for a more politically relevant form of intellectual work. Key Features: * detailed case study of same-sex marriages in the US is used to interrogate family value politics * shows the relevance of contemporary theory to practical political life * makes a plea for a more politically relevant form of intellectual work * aimed at both a Politics and a Cultural Studies readership Books in the series are...Valentine and Arditi Polemicization Shapiro Cinematic Political Thought Chambers Untimely Politics Elden Speaking Against Number Bowman Post-Marxism Versus Cultural Studies Marchart Post-Foundational Political Thought Little Democratic Piety