“Emphasizing that words rest within social actions and social worlds and are woven into the fabric of the conceptual backdrop of contemporary politics, economics, and social worlds, this volume will have a major impact on our thinking about the fate of liberalisms and democracy.”

- Elizabeth A. Povinelli, author of, The Inheritance

“Veena Das and Didier Fassin have assembled an arresting, methodologically innovative, and utterly relevant political lexicon. They have brought together a world-class group of authors who—with great sensitivity and insight—illuminate some of the concepts most urgently required for political understanding.”

- Alice Crary, author of, Inside Ethics: On the Demands of Moral Thought

“Dark times require that, rather than reasserting fixed conceptual meanings and understandings, we follow Theodor Adorno in focusing upon the concept as both enabling and preventing access to the world. In this respect, [<i>Words and Worlds</i>] is an erudite reminder of the power of critical theory to put words to work while appreciating their ambiguous relation to reality.”

- David Chandler, Journal of Anthropological Research