Social and political philosophy Books

Book SynopsisWith the rise of myriad forms of identity politics which corresponds to a new Trinity Formula of leftist analysis of capitalism (class, race, and gender), major currents in the contemporary radical left in the past decades have shifted their aim. This book addresses the ideological, theoretical, and practical dilemmas of the contemporary academic and activist left from a Marxist standpoint.Covering contemporary developments in Left thought and ideology and putting them into social and historical context, the chapters provide a theoretical confrontation with the myriad ways it has tended to accommodate itself to neoliberal ideology, rather than fundamentally opposing it.The contrast between the Marxian emancipatory project and what the progressive left has made of it has never been more glaring than now, a time in which capital no longer seems to confront a political barrier. It is this predicament that The Conformist Rebellion evaluates, for a renewed approach to emancipation from capital.

Read more less

Book SynopsisYou didn't choose to live this life, in this body, in these conditions-this delicate and difficult life. Yet when you consider that your existence is fleeting, an inspired sense of urgency can spring forth. Say you often hike with a friend. One day, they propose that you skydive instead. You're wavering, and they insist:?Come?on. You only live once! And soon you're flying through the air. Why embrace a life you did not choose?In?This Beauty, philosopher Nick Riggle explores the beauty of being alive by investigating the things we say to inspire ourselves and each other: seize the day, treat yourself, you only live once. These clichés are at best vague, at worst stupid. They imply that you should do something wild with your life because your life is precious, a little like saying you should go swimming with your grandfather's watch because it is irreplaceable.Drawing on insights from aesthetics and his experiences as a professional skater and new father, he develops the thought that beauty-the beauty of this day, this body, this moment, these people-can make life worth embracing, worth engaging with and amplifying as beautiful. Insightful and deeply humane, This Beauty is a searching inquiry into the mystery of life's beauty and a call to create and share it.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIstvan Meszaros is a world-renowned philosopher and critic. He left his native Hungary after the Soviet invasion of 1956. He is professor emeritus at the University of Sussex, where he held the chair of philosophy for fifteen years. Among his many books are Social Structure and Forms of Consciousness Volumes I and II, The Work of Sartre, The Structural Crisis of Capital, The Challenge and Burden of Historical Time, Beyond Capital: Toward a Theory of Transition, and Marx's Theory of Alienation. As John Bellamy Foster writes in his foreword to the present book, "Istvan Meszaros is one of the greatest philosophers that the historical materialist tradition has yet produced. His work stands practically alone today in the depth of its analysis of Marx's theory of alienation, the structural crisis of capital, the demise of Soviet-style post-revolutionary societies, and the necessary conditions of the transition to socialism. His dialectical inquiry into social structure and forms of consciousness - a systematic critique of the prevailing forms of thought - is unequaled in our time." Meszaros is the author of magisterial works like Beyond Capital and Social Structures of Forms of Consciousness, but his work can seem daunting to those unacquainted with his thought. Here, for the first time, is a concise and accessible overview of Meszaros's ideas, designed by the author himself and covering the broad scope of his work, from the shortcomings of bourgeois economics to the degeneration of the capital system to the transition to socialism.Trade Review"one of the few people who has made essential contributions to the body of Marxist thought." - Michael A. Lebowitz, author, The Contradictions of "Real Socialism" and The Socialist Alternative

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Debord, Time and Spectacle Tom Bunyard provides a detailed philosophical study of the theoretical work of Guy Debord and the Situationist International. Drawing on evidence from Debord's books, films, letters and notes, Bunyard reconstructs the Hegelian and Marxian ideas that support Debord's central concept of 'spectacle'. This affords a reconsideration of Debord's theoretical claims, and a reinterpretation of his broader work that foregrounds his concerns with history and lived time.Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsList of IllustrationsIntroduction: Radioactivity Subjectivity, Temporality and Spectacle 1 Interpreting the Theory of Spectacle2 Five Aspects of Debord’s Theoretical Work The New Beauty: 1951–62 3 ‘We are Artists Insofar as We are No Longer Artists’4 The Everyday and the Absolute5 ‘Avant-Gardes Have Only One Time’ ‘Everything that had Formerly been Absolute Became Historical’ 6 Debord and French Hegelianism7 Subjects and Objects: Debord, Lukács and the Young Marx8 Life and Non-life In Pursuit of the Northwest Passage: 1963–73 9 Never Work!10 ‘I am Nothing and I Should be Everything’11 The ‘Fetishism of Capital’ The Integrated Spectacle: 1974–94 12 Moving with History’s ‘Bad Side’13 Strategy and Tactics in the Integrated Spectacle14 The Knight, Death and the DevilBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this concise introduction, Chad Kautzer demonstrates the shared emancipatory goals and methods of several radical philosophies, from Marxism and feminism to critical race and queer theory. Radical Philosophy examines the relations of theory and practice, knowledge and power, as well as the function of law in creating extralegal forms of domination. Through a critical engagement with the history of philosophy, Kautzer reconstructs important counter-traditions of historical, dialectical, and reflexive forms of critique relevant to contemporary social struggles. The result is an innovative, systematic guide to radical theory and critical resistance.Trade Review“Turn the university upside down! Turn philosophy upside down. Think against the world of destruction and oppression—and cultivate resistance. This book is a terrific place to start, just what we need.” —John Holloway, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico, author of Change the World without Taking Power and Crack Capitalism “Radical Philosophy: An Introduction constitutes a major scholarly contribution without rival. The analysis of domination through the lenses of race, class, gender, and sexuality in the context of a rich historical engagement is a hallmark of Kautzer’s scholarship. The book concludes with a novel conception of the function of whiteness in extra-legal structures of racism. The elegant style renders the book highly readable, which is an important benefit of a text that has much to offer scholars, students, and activists.” — Cynthia Willett, Emory University, author of Interspecies Ethics and Irony in the Age of Empire “ Ever since Socrates, philosophy has been a dangerous endeavor, but it loses its critical edge if practiced only as an academic exercise. Chad Kautzer renews philosophy’s original stance by making a forceful case for an interventionist thinking informed by contemporary social struggles. This book is an indispensable tool for all who want not only to interpret the world but to change it.” — Daniel Loick, Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main, author of The Critique of Sovereignty (Kritik der Souveränität) Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Critical Methodology 2. Marxism and Class Critique 3. Feminism and Queer Theory 4. Antiracism and the Whiteness Problem

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is the first book to systematize the philosophical content of Thomas Jefferson's writings. Sifting through Jefferson's many addresses, messages, and letters, philosopher M. Andrew Holowchak uncovers an intensely curious Enlightenment thinker with a well-constructed, people-sympathetic, and consistent philosophy. As the author shows, Jefferson's philosophical views encompassed human nature, the cosmos, politics, morality, and education. Beginning with his understanding of the cosmos, part one considers Jefferson's philosophical naturalism and the influence on him of Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, and John Locke. The next section critically examines his political viewpoints, specifically his republicanism, liberalism, and progressivism. The third part, "Jefferson on Morality," analyzes Jefferson's thoughts on human nature, his moral-sense theory, and his notion of "natural aristoi" (best or most virtuous citizens). Finally, "Jefferson on Education" reviews his ideas on properly educating the people of the new nation for responsible, participatory citizenry. Jefferson conceived of the United States as a "great experiment"-embodying a vision of a government responsibly representative of its people and functioning for the sake of them. This book will help readers understand the philosophical perspective that sustained this audacious, innovative, and people-first experiment.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA clear, expert, and inspiring guide to social change, based on case studies of grassroots movements that won, from two leading community and labor experts“Our movements must seek and win governing power to achieve our visions for a more just society. This book is a vital resource for progressives who want to win.” —Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chair, Congressional Progressive CaucusHow do underdogs, facing far stronger opponents, sometimes win? In the tradition of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Deepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce’s Practical Radicals offers winning strategies, history, and theory for a new generation of activists.Based on interviews with leading organizers, this groundbreaking book describes seven strategies to bring about transformative change. It incorporates stories of organizations and movements that have won, including Make the Road NY, the St. Paul Federation of Educators, the welfare rights movement, the Working Families Party, New Georgia Project, Occupy Wall Street, 350.org, the Fight for 15, and Gay Men’s Health Crisis. Two overarching case studies anchor the book: the brilliant techniques used by enslaved people and their allies to end slavery, and the sinister but effective ways elites imposed our current system.Practical Radicals offers insights on strategy used by business, military, and political elites, addresses the challenges of overcoming conflict within organizations and movements, and concludes with a discussion of how our movements must adapt to meet new challenges in the twenty-first century.A book for activists, organizers, and anyone hoping to win the fight for a better society, Practical Radicals is a deeply informed resource designed to help us win on the big issues of our time.Trade ReviewPraise for Practical Radicals: "Progressive activists will want to dog-ear, underline, and pore over this well-conceived handbook."—Kirkus Reviews“Our movements must seek and win governing power to achieve our visions for a more just society. This book is a vital resource for progressives who want to win.”—Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus"Being right isn’t enough. This crucial resource provides a map of the strategies we need to achieve our freedom dreams."—Cristina Jiménez, co-founder of United We Dream“We now face an authoritarian coalition that is ruthless and strategic. Organizers must bring more rigor, depth, and a spirit of experimentation to our strategies if we are to prevail. This crucial book is for everyone who cares about the future of racial, gender, and economic justice and the future of democracy.”—Dorian Warren, president of Community Change “Bhargava and Luce bring us a deeply informed and comprehensive analysis of contemporary American social movements. Activists and organizers especially need to read this book, but so do the rest of us.”—Frances Fox Piven"People power on a massive scale is the only solution to the crises facing our planet. This important book helps us learn from the lineage of struggle we are part of and shows how we must innovate to meet today’s challenges."—Varshini Prakash, co-founder and executive director, the Sunrise Movement"This is the book I’ve been waiting for. It reminds progressives that we have a rich lineage of victories to draw on, from abolition to AIDS activism. And it shows us the multiple strategies we need to win today."—Felicia Wong, president, the Roosevelt Institute

Read more less

Book SynopsisA vital resource for progressives who want to win (Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal)Progressive activists will want to dog-ear, underline, and pore over this well-conceived handbook. Kirkus ReviewsHow do underdogs, facing far stronger opponents, sometimes win? In the tradition of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals and Sun Tzu's The Art of War, Deepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce's Practical Radicals offers winning strategies, history, and theory for a new generation of activists. Based on interviews with leading organizers, Practical Radicals combines the hard-earned wisdom of our movement ancestors, the rigorous theory of serious practitioners and academics and the functional tools organizers need to spring into action (In These Times). Incorporating stories of organizations and movements that have won, including Make the Road NY, the St. Paul Federation of Educators, the welfare rights movement, the Working Families Party, New Georgia Project, Occupy Wall Street, 350.org, the Fight for 15, and Gay Men's Health Crisis, Practical Radicals takes inspiration from successful social movements to identify tactics that pay off. (The Guardian). With a sweeping new afterword by the authors addressing the challenges of 2025 and beyond, the authors explore how the seven strategies the book highlights can provide a toolkit for underdogs looking both to resist authoritarianism and to win alternatives. At a time of immense uncertainty inside the United States, this crucial book is for everyone who cares about the future of racial, gender, and economic justice and the future of democracy. (Dorian Warren, president of Community Change).

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis "fascinating new book" (The New Yorker) shows how our digital way of life makes us overvalue some ways of processing information over others and thus risks distorting what it means to be human. Lynch argues that it will be the way in which we adapt our minds to these new tools that will ultimately decide whether or not the "Internet of Things" will be a net gain for humanity.Trade Review"Lynch’s basic argument is that if we understand better the conditions under which knowledge is produced and disseminated—conditions he explores clearly and cogently—then we will become more 'responsible' knowers." -- The Wall Street Journal

Read more less

Book SynopsisFollowing a remarkable epoch of greater dispersion of wealth and opportunity, we are inexorably returning towards a more feudal era marked by greater concentration of wealth and property, reduced upward mobility, demographic stagnation, and increased dogmatism. If the last seventy years saw a massive expansion of the middle class, not only in America but in much of the developed world, today that class is declining and a new, more hierarchical society is emerging. The new class structure resembles that of Medieval times. At the apex of the new order are two classes—a reborn clerical elite, the clerisy, which dominates the upper part of the professional ranks, universities, media and culture, and a new aristocracy led by tech oligarchs with unprecedented wealth and growing control of information. These two classes correspond to the old French First and Second Estates. Below these two classes lies what was once called the Third Estate. This includes the yeomanry, which is made up largely of small businesspeople, minor property owners, skilled workers and private-sector oriented professionals. Ascendant for much of modern history, this class is in decline while those below them, the new Serfs, grow in numbers—a vast, expanding property-less population. The trends are mounting, but we can still reverse them—if people understand what is actually occurring and have the capability to oppose them.Trade Review“Kotkin has written an essential and critical study of emerging class structures at the intersection of technological determinism and post-industrial capitalism. He suggests that technological oligarchs are already controlling our economic future while creating a high-tech neo-feudal society that undermines democracy and economic mobility for the middle and working classes.” --John Russo, Visiting Scholar, Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and Working Poor at Georgetown University, Co-editor, Working-Class Perspectives “Our society and economy is no longer progressing but regressing into a kind of “neo-feudalism.” As Joel Kotkin describes it, our once-great middle class is being eviscerated and America is dividing into a small group of uber-wealthy oligarchs who have colonized luxury cities like San Francisco and New York. A gripping cautionary tale by one of the most provocative and original thinkers of our time, this book is a must read for all those concerned about the future of our cities and our society.” --Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class and The New Urban Crisis.

Read more less

Book SynopsisEmpiriomonism is Alexander Bogdanov 's scientific-philosophical substantiation of Marxism. In Books One and Two, he combines Ernst Mach 's and Richard Avenarius 's neutral monist philosophy with the theory of psychophysical parallelism and systematically demonstrates that human psyches are thoroughly natural and are subject to nature 's laws. In Book Three, Bogdanov argues that empiriomonism is superior to G. V. Plekhanov 's outdated materialism and shows how the principles of empiriomonism solve the basic problem of historical materialism: how a society 's material base causally determines its ways of thinking. Bogdanov concludes that empiriomonism is of the same order as materialist systems, and, since it is the ideology of the productive forces of society, it is a Marxist philosophy.Table of ContentsPreface The Autobiography of Alexander Bogdanov Bogdanov as a Thinker V.A. Bazarov Book One 1 The Ideal of Cognition (Empiriomonism of the Physical and the Psychical) 2 Life and the Psyche 1 The Realm of Experiences 2 Psychoenergetics 3 The Monist Conception of Life 3 Universum (Empiriomonism of the Separate and the Continuous) Conclusion to Book One Book Two 4 The 'Thing-in-Itself ' from the Perspective of Empiriomonism 5 Psychical Selection (Empiriomonism in the Theory of the Psyche) 1 Foundations of the Method 2 Applications of the Method (Illustrations) 6 Two Theories of the Vital-Differential Book Three 7 Preface to Book Three 1 Three Materialisms 2 Energetics and Empiriocriticism 3 The Path of Empiriomonism 4 Regarding Eclecticism and Monism 8 Social Selection (Foundations of the Method) 9 Historical Monism 1 Main Lines of Development 2 Classes and Groups 10 Self-Awareness of Philosophy (The Origin of Empiriomonism) Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisLouis Althusser argued that Marx initiated a transformation of philosophy, a new way of doing philosophy. This book follows that provocation to examine the way in which central Marxist concepts and problems from primitive accumulation to real abstraction animate and inform philosophers from Theodor Adorno to Paolo Virno. While also examining the way in which reading Marx casts new light on such philosophers as Spinoza. At the centre of this transformation is the production of subjectivity, the manner in which relations of production produce ways of thinking and living.Table of ContentsTable of Contents: Acknowledgements Introduction Part 1 Becoming Contingent: Philosophy, Violence, History 1 Primitive Accumulation: The Aleatory Foundation of Capitalism 2 The Present as Pre-History: Adorno and Balibar on the Transformation of Labor 3 The Althusser Effect: Philosophy, History, and Temporality 4 To Think the New in the Absence of its Conditions: Althusser and Negri on the Philosophy of Primitive Accumulation Part 2 Putting the Capitalism Back into Capitalism and Schizophrenia: On Deleuze and Guattari 5 A Universal History of Contingency: Deleuze and Guattari on the History of Capitalism 6 The Age of Cynicism: Deleuze and Guattari on the Political Logic of Contemporary Capitalism 7 The Fetish is Always Actual, Revolution is Always Virtual: Marx and Deleuze 8 The Affective Economy: Producing and Consuming Affects in Deleuze and Guattari 9 Beyond Enslavement and Subjection: Deviations from Deleuze and Guattari Part 3 Between Marx and Spinoza: Philosophy and Ideology 10 The Potentia of Living Labour: Negri’s Practice of Philosophy 11 The Order and Connection of Ideas: Theoretical Practice in Macherey’s Turn to Spinoza 12 Desire is Man’s Very Essence: Spinoza and Hegel as Philosophers of Transindividuality 13 The Order and Connection of Ideology is the Same as the Order and Connection of Exploitation: Or, Towards a Bestiary of the Capitalist Imagination 14 Conscienta Sive Ideologica: On the Spontaneity of Ideology Part 4 Returns of Philosophical Anthropology: New Subjections/New Transformations 15 A Genealogy of Homo-Economicus: Foucault, Neoliberalism, and the Production of Subjectivity 16 Abstract Materialism: Alfred Sohn-Rethel and the Task of Materialist Philosophy 17 The Production of Subjectivity: From Transindividuality to the Commons 18 Man is a Werewolf to Man: Capital and the Limits of Political Anthropology 19 The ‘Other Scene’ of Political Anthropology: Between Transindividuality and Equaliberty 20 Anthropocene and Anthropogenesis: Philosophical Anthropology and the Ends of Man Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA major intervention into the place of Marxist political economy in the work of celebrated critical theorist Theodor Adorno.To this day, there persists a widespread assumption that Theodor Adorno's references to Marx—and especially to Marx's critique of political economy—represent a relic from an early and short-lived stage of the great Frankfurt School critical theorist's intellectual development. In this book, on the basis of relevant and largely unpublished textual sources, Adorno scholar Dirk Braunstein powerfully refutes this thesis and shows that Adorno's critical theory of society is centrally concerned with a critique not only of political economy, but of economy in general.Table of ContentsFront MatterPreliminary MaterialPages: i–xCopyright PageTranslator’s NoteAcknowledgementsChapter 1 Attempting a Critique of Political EconomyPages: 1–6Part 1Chapter 2 The Most Important Marxist Publication on HegelPages: 9–29Chapter 3 Objection to the Intérieur and the Sociology of InteriorityPages: 30–70Chapter 4 Familiarity with Its First ChapterPages: 71–105Part 2Chapter 5 The Theoretically Useless Concept of State CapitalismPages: 109–137Chapter 6 Hatched a National-Economic (!!) TheoryPages: 138–157Chapter 7 Humanity Had to Inflict Terrible Injuries on ItselfPages: 158–193Chapter 8 GarbagePages: 194–219Chapter 9 The Curse of Writing TodayPages: 220–236Part 3Chapter 10 ?? Did He Read Marx?Pages: 239–256Chapter 11 Eating and Being EatenPages: 257–292Chapter 12 Point of IndifferencePages: 293–318Chapter 13 Something’s MissingPages: 319–349Chapter 14 Raison d’êtrePages: 350–353Back MatterBibliographyAfterword to the Second EditionPages: 399–400Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs we emerge (though perhaps only temporarily) from the pandemic, other crises move center stage: outrageous inequality, climate disaster, desperate refugees, mounting tensions of a new cold war. The abiding motif of our time is relentless chaos. Acknowledging the possibilities for new beginnings at such moments, Mao Zedong famously proclaimed “There is great disorder under heaven; the situation is excellent.” The contemporary relevance of Mao’s observation depends on whether today’s catastrophes can be a catalyst for progress or have passed over into something terrible and irretrievable. Perhaps the disorder is no longer under, but in heaven itself. Characteristically rich in paradoxes and reversals that entertain as well as illuminate, Slavoj Žižek’s new book treats with equal analytical depth the lessons of Rammstein and Corbyn, Morales and Orwell, Lenin and Christ. It excavates universal truths from local political sites across Palestine and Chile, France and Kurdistan, and beyond. Heaven In Disorder looks with fervid dispassion at the fracturing of the Left, the empty promises of liberal democracy, and the tepid compromises offered by the powerful. From the ashes of these failures, Žižek asserts the need for international solidarity, economic transformation, and—above all—an urgent, “wartime” communism.Trade Review“Offers an overall view of [Žižek’s] thinking and politics… There’s much to agree with, enjoy, and ponder” — Splice General praise for Slavoj: "One of the most innovative and exciting contemporary thinkers of the left." —Times Literary Supplement "The thinker of choice for Europe's young intellectual vanguard." —Observer “The most dangerous philosopher in the West.” —Adam Kirsch, The New Republic "Never ceases to dazzle." —Daily Telegraph "Few thinkers illustrate the contradictions of contemporary capitalism better than Slavoj Zizek." —New York Review of Books

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn a characteristically explosive barrage, Ljubljana’s most famous philosopher takes a passionate stance on the war in Ukraine, surveys the latest Hollywood blockbusters, and delivers detonations into a range of contemporary issues, from sexual politics in India to the prospects for a new Cold War. Ever attentive to moments where the bizarre and the epic join forces, among the questions Žižek considers here are: Is the giant orgy, planned to take place in Ukraine in the event of a Russian nuclear attack, really all that morbid? And what should society do, whether on the big screen or the battlefield, in preparation for the end of the world?Agree with him or not, Žižek rarely fails to provoke in a productive fashion. By examining matters through a lens that is bold and original, and often joyfully outlandish, Žižek helps us to better grasp a world in which, increasingly, the dominant motif is one of madness.Trade Review“[The] master of the counterintuitive observation.”—The New Yorker “The most dangerous philosopher in the West.”—The New Republic “Few thinkers illustrate the contradictions of contemporary capitalism better than Slavoj Žižek.”—New York Review of Books

Read more less

Book SynopsisMEDITATIONS IS AS RELEVANT TO OUR LIVES TODAY AS IT WAS WHEN IT WAS FIRST WRITTEN ALMOST 2,000 YEARS AGO.Meditations is an extraordinary series of unabridged private reflections of Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) on how one is to exist in a world of chaos. Emperor of Rome from 169 to180 AD and considered by Machiavelli as the last of the Five Good Emperors, Aurelius was the most powerful and influential man in the Western world at the time and is known as one of the most important of the Stoic philosophers, praised for their wisdom, insight and guidance by leaders and great thinkers alike. The Meditations are perhaps the most important source of our modern understanding of their philosophy of which he was the last distinguished representative.The twelve books in Meditations chronicle different stages of Aurelius' life and ideas. Never intended for publication, they are the personal notes of a man who studied his unique position of power as an emperor while trying to uphold an inner balance in the chaotic world around him. Intended for his own guidance and self-improvement, they are simple in style and sincere in tone.Although he ruled during an age of relative peace and stability throughout the empire, his reign was marked by military conflict and a devastating plague, killing more than five million people. Aurelius' writings present an unprecedented look into the spiritual exercises which helped him through his tumultuous life and strengthened his patience, empathy, generosity, self-knowledge and emotional health.

Read more less

Book SynopsisVariously considered a Taoist and a cynic, Han Fei, himself a prince, has been seen as a forerunner to Machiavelli. At the end of the Warring States, when oratory mattered hugely, Han Fei, with a stutter, was the brain and the plume of the Legalist School. From Han Fei’s oeuvre, Mingyuan Hu selects and translates two extracts encapsulating the thinking that so impressed Zheng, King of Qin, who later became the first emperor of China, and in whose prison Han Fei died drinking poison. This book is part of the Erstwhile Series.Table of ContentsGoodness and Honour Are for Ancient Times, Not for Today Rescuing a Small Power May Not Help Its Survival; Serving the Powerful May Not Be Free of Oversight

Read more less

Book SynopsisDid Myra Hindley deserve to be punished? Does any criminal? Is belief in free will an essential foundation for morality, or an excuse for unwarranted cruelty? Is free will a myth and, if so, can we let go of it? In this entertaining, accessible but deeply serious book, the author brings a refreshingly original approach to the age-old conflict between free will and determinism and comes down firmly against free will. But what does ‘free will’ mean? And if we rejected it, what would the consequences be? The author, a lawyer who has worked both on law reform at the Law Commission and in private practice, and has written legal and other books and articles, has turned to a subject which has interested him for over half a century. He strongly believes that it does not belong exclusively to philosophers. These questions should be of concern to everyone – and no one who is willing to look at them objectively should be afraid to judge for themselves and reach their own conclusions.Trade Review‘Most people are completely taken in by the illusion of free will. Happily, Richard Oerton is not among them. The Nonsense of Free Will is a wonderfully clear – and very clever – little book.’ -- Sam Harris * author of The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape and Free Will *‘There are philosophical, scientific, scholarly, novel, determined, American, pompous, dotty and other books on free will and determinism. There are also a few books that are lucid and informal introductions for ordinary readers and let you know that your free will does not exist. Richard Oerton’s may be the best of these.’ -- Professor Ted Honderich * Grote Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic, University College London *This book is superbly written and a delight to read. Starting as a clearly reasoned treatment of determinism, it merges seamlessly into a critique of English criminal law and penal policy, and ends with a plea for society to abandon what the author sees as its irrational belief in free will.’ -- Joshua Rozenberg * lawyer and legal commentator, formerly legal editor of The Daily Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisLouis Althusser's renowned short text "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses" radically transformed the concept of the subject, the understanding of the state and even the very frameworks of cultural, political and literary theory. The text has influenced thinkers such as Judith Butler, Ernesto Laclau and Slavoj Zizek.The piece is, in fact, an extract from a much longer book, On the Reproduction of Capitalism, until now unavailable in English. Its publication makes possible a reappraisal of seminal Althusserian texts already available in English, their place in Althusser's oeuvre and the relevance of his ideas for contemporary theory. On the Reproduction of Capitalism develops Althusser's conception of historical materialism, outlining the conditions of reproduction in capitalist society and the revolutionary struggle for its overthrow.Written in the afterglow of May 1968, the text addresses a question that continues to haunt us today: in a society that proclaims its attachment to the ideals of liberty and equality, why do we witness the ever-renewed reproduction of relations of domination? Both a conceptually innovative text and a key theoretical tool for activists, On the Reproduction of Capitalism is an essential addition to the corpus of the twentieth-century Left.Trade Review‘The elegant theorist, the man who redefined the concept of “ideology”’—Alice Kaplan, Los Angeles Review of Books ‘One of the most important Marxist thinkers of the twentieth century … nothing short of electric. His renewal of Marxism represented a liberation for a younger generation’ —Radical Philosophy"One reads him with excitement. There is no mystery about his capacity to inspire the intelligent young."—Eric Hobsbawm"Louis Althusser influenced so many discourses, actions and existences by the radiant and provocative force of his thought."—Jacques Derrida

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat would the ancient Greek philosopher make of the twenty-first-century Google headquarters?A dazzling exploration of the role of ancient philosophy in modern life from the acclaimed writer and thinker.Imagine that Plato came to life in the twenty-first century and embarked on a multi-city speaking tour. How would he mediate a debate between a Freudian psychoanalyst and a 'tiger mum' on how to raise the perfect child? How would he handle the host of a right-wing news program who denies there can be morality without religion? What would Plato make of Google, and of the idea that knowledge can be crowdsourced rather than reasoned out by experts? Plato at the Googleplex is acclaimed thinker Rebecca Newberger Goldstein's dazzling investigation of these conundra. With a philosopher's depth and erudition and a novelist's imagination and wit, Goldstein probes the deepest issues confronting us by allowing us to eavesdrop on Plato as he takes on the modern world; it is a stunningly original plunge into the drama of philosophy, revealing its hidden role in today's debates on religion, morality, politics and science.Trade ReviewThis could be one of the best ever demonstrations of the value and utility of philosophy. Richly insightful, beautifully written, it is at once introduction, exploration, and application, revealing the fascination and significance of philosophical ideas and their relevance to life. Like the Plato who figures largely here, Goldstein has both literary and philosophical gifts of the highest order: the combination is superb. -- A.C. Grayling * author of The God Argument *Felicitously written, impressively researched, insightful, important, entertaining, independent-minded and glowing with intelligence... Plato is brought marvellously to life and relevance in these passionate pages. -- Colin McGinn * Wall Street Journal *A wonderful book - enjoyably readable, full of stimulating insights and refreshing observations, unintimidatingly erudite, and salted with a gentle wit. -- Harry Frankfurt * author of On Bullshit *An important and amazing book. Goldstein beautifully combines the skills of a distinguished novelist with breathtaking philosophical scholarship. -- Hilary Putnam, John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities Emeritus, Harvard UniversityLong awaited... Rebecca Goldstein manages to be so funny and right -- Stephen Fry

Read more less

Book SynopsisOur secular society seems to have finally found its new God: Work. As technological progress makes human labor superfluous, and over-production destroys both the economy and the planet, Work remains stronger than ever as a mantra of universal submission. This book develops a fully-fledged theory of radical atheism, advocating a disrespectful, opportunist squandering of obedience. By replacing hope and faith with adventure, The Last Night of our lives might finally become the first morning of an autonomous future.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe actions, images and stories within films can impact upon the political consciousness of viewers, enabling their audience to imagine ways of resisting the status quo, politically, economically and culturally. But what does political theory have to say about film? Should we explore film theory through a political lens? Why might individuals respond to the political within films? This book connects the work of eight radical political theorists to eight world-renowned films and shows how the political impact of film on the aesthetic self can lead to the possibility of political resistance. Each chapter considers the work of a core thinker on film, shows its relevance in terms of a specific case study film, then highlights how these films probe political issues in a way that invites viewers to think critically about them, both within the internal logic of the film and in how that might impact externally on the way they live their lives. Examining this dialogue enables Ian Fraser to demonstrate the possibility of a political impact of films on our own consciousness and identity, and that of others.Trade ReviewIn eight stand-alone chapters, Fraser (Loughborough, UK) summarizes the political, social, economic, and moral-psychological positions of eight Continental philosophers, pairing each with a film that best exemplifies his or her theories. All are staunch opponents of neoliberal capitalism, seeking in film a means of transforming mass consciousness as a precondition for emancipatory resistance and revolution. Though some theorists conscript philosophers from the Western canon (Kant, Hume), most anchor their primary mode of analysis in poststructuralist or neo-Marxist psychoanalytic theory (e.g., Theodor Adorno, Ernst Bloch, Alain Badiou, Jacques Rancière, Slavoj Žižek). Given the philosphers' shared political orientations and focus on culture and consciousness, the conclusions Fraser reaches at the end of each chapter are somewhat repetitive. Properly instructed to see and feel what these political theorists see and feel, the art of cinema can transform an agency of mass consumption and escapist fantasy into personal and then revolutionary political emancipation. Culture underwrites politics; like poets before them, filmmakers can become the legislators for a just society. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * CHOICE *Up to date and up to speed, Fraser’s book is an excellent introduction to the developing relationship between political theory and cinematic meaning-making. Using insights from Kant and Hume to Deleuze and Rancière, Fraser pairs major theorists with major films, working from Adorno to Žižek, from Chaplin to Chandor. Just as films make politics, so now they make political theory. -- Terrell Carver, Professor of Political Theory, University of BristolIan Fraser is one of our foremost political theorists exploring the relationships between aesthetics and politics, demonstrating how film has a powerful social significance in providing graphic and valuable exemplifications ideas and concepts developed in political philosophy. This book considers with remarkably wide-ranging agility and insight the provocative investigations of leading continental philosophers into the political imagery and radical social critique projected in such films as Chaplin's Monsiuer Verdoux, Loach's Land and Freedom and Chandor's Margin Call. -- David Boucher, Professor of Political Philosophy and International Relations, Cardiff UniversityIan Fraser is one of our foremost political theorists exploring the relationships between aesthetics and politics, demonstrating how film has a powerful social significance in providing graphic and valuable exemplifications ideas and concepts developed in political philosophy. This book considers with remarkably wide-ranging agility and insight the provocative investigations of leading continental philosophers into the political imagery and radical social critique projected in such films as Chaplin's Monsiuer Verdoux, Loach's Land and Freedom and Chandor's Margin Call. -- David Boucher, Professor of Political Philosophy and International Relations, Cardiff UniversityThrough a series of carefully chosen case studies Ian Fraser examines the relationship between cinema and political theory of (mostly left-wing) authors, such as Adorno, Benjamin, Bloch and Rancière. In a lucid way he demonstrates that films can visualise and explain ideas which are often difficult to grasp, while putting them into a test of concrete, even if fictional situations. -- Ewa Hanna Mazierska, Professor of Contemporary Cinema, University of Central LancashirePolitical theories have often been tied to the aesthetic weighting and visual rhetorics of the image, usefully bringing about tactics for political criticism in areas beyond the cinema. It is with this in mind that political theory has benefitted from film theory, and vice versa. Ian Fraser’s Political Theory and Film: From Adorno to Žižek seeks to add and contribute to contemporary efforts in this area.… At its best, this book introduces readers to a range of critical political theorists, who have in many cases written on or about film and shows the significance of their ideas for a critical interpretation of film; moreover, the book demonstrates how film criticism contributes to the exposition of core ideas in political theory. It is therefore quite accessible and helpful from a pedagogical standpoint. * Contemporary Political Theory, 2018 *Table of ContentsIntroduction / 1. Theodor Adorno: Charlie Chaplin’s Monsieur Verdoux / 2. Walter Benjamin: Ken Loach’s Land and Freedom / 3. Ernst Bloch: Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris / 4. Gilles Deleuze: Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Neighbouring Sounds / 5. Alain Badiou: Jia Zhangke’s A Touch of Sin / 6. Jacques Rancière: Gavin Hood’s Rendition / 7. Julia Kristeva: David Fincher’s Fight Club / 8. Slavoj Žižek: JC Chandor's Margin Call / 9. Cinema and the Aesthetic Self

Read more less

Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1965, Reading Capital is a landmark of French thought and radical theory, reconstructing Western Marxism from its foundations. Louis Althusser, the French Marxist philosopher, maintained that Marx's project could only be revived if its scientific and revolutionary novelty was thoroughly divested of all traces of humanism, idealism, Hegelianism and historicism. In order to complete this critical rereading, Althusser and his students at the École normale supérieure ran a seminar on Capital, re-examining its arguments, strengths and weaknesses in detail, and it was out of those discussions that this book was born.Previously only available in English in highly abridged form, this edition, appearing fifty years after its original publication in France, restores chapters by Roger Establet, Pierre Macherey and Jacques Rancière. It includes a major new introduction by Étienne Balibar.Trade ReviewOne of the central texts of French structuralism (and of modern Marxism as well). Its critique of humanism and what Althusser called historicism remains relevant and ought to be renewed in our time. -- Fredric JamesonThe complete edition of Reading Capital returns us to the excitement of the book's first publication. It not only makes available some remarkable essays not included in previous English editions but also allows us to see clearly how the essays emerged from the dynamic interactions of a university seminar. -- Michael Hardt, co-author of the Empire trilogy

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Benjamin Files offers a comprehensive new reading of all of Benjamin's major works and a great number of his shorter book reviews, notes and letters. Its premise is that Benjamin was an anti-philosophical, anti-systematic thinker whose conceptual interests also felt the gravitational pull of his vocation as a writer. What resulted was a coexistence or variety of language fields and thematic codes which overlapped and often seemed to contradict each other: a view which will allow us to clarify the much-debated tension in his works between the mystical or theological side of Benjamin and his political or historical inclination. The three-way tug of war over his heritage between adherents of his friends Scholem, Adorno and Brecht, can also be better grasped from this position, which gives the Brechtian standpoint more due than most influential academic studies. Benjamin's corpus is an anticipation of contemporary theory in the priority it gives language and representation over philosophical or conceptual unity; and its political motivations are clarified by attention to the omnipresence of History throughout his writing, from the shortest articles to the most ambitious projects. His explicit program - "to transfer the crisis into the heart of language" or, in other words, to detect class struggle at work in the most minute literary phenomena - requires the reader to translate the linguistic or representational literary issues that concerned him back into the omnipresent but often only implicitly political ones. But the latter are those of another era, to which we must gain access, to use one of Benjamin's favorite expressions.Trade ReviewIn The Benjamin Files, the high Jamesonian style is everywhere on display, with the slight difference that the prose in this book seems at once more forthright and more playful than in many of the older works. -- Ian Balfour * Los Angeles Review of Books *Jameson skilfully situates Benjamin within his immediate and wider contexts, and he is an attentive close reader, drawing out the tight, mutual links between form and content in Benjamin's thought. -- Carolin Duttlinger * Times Literary Supplement *Marvelous -- David Carrier * Hyperallergic *[Jameson] is probably the finest cultural critic in the world ... There seems to be almost nothing he hasn't read, apart perhaps from the odd manual on pig-farming, and the wealth of cultural knowledge packed into this latest offering is astonishing. -- Terry Eagleton * London Review of Books *In making his case, Jameson places Benjamin squarely within the Marxist tradition, while simultaneously retaining all that is unique and complex about his thinking. -- Paul Stasi * Socialism & Democracy *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA philosophical examination of the theoretical terrain of contemporary Maoism premised on the counter-intuitive assumption that Maoism did not emerge as a coherent theory until the end of the 1980s.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs its title suggests, this collections of essays by one of the foremost theorists working today takes as its theme the edge or limit between language, time, history, and politics. These are essays that are all on the brink, about the edge, the very extreme at which one can no longer say where one is located, neither on the cliff, say, nor over the edge. To be on the brink, then, is to take up that extreme limit, the point of contamination or indetermination where language, time, history, and politics all converge upon one another.The book begins with a consideration of Kant’s treatment of time as representation, before moving toward more explicitly political themes as it engages political theology and messianism in Hegel and Hölderlin. The second section explores the questionof language in a variety of manifestations—from translation to complaint and greeting—and through a number of literary and cultural forms, from the work of Mallarmé to email. The volume concludes with an interview in which Hamacher offers a revealing overview of his work, beginning with an account of his early writings and moving up to his most recent essays.Table of Contents1. Ex Tempore: Time as Representation in Kant / 2. On Some Differences Between the History of Literary and the History of Phenomenal Events / 3. (The End of Art with the Mask) / 4. Contraductions / 5. Notes on Greeting / 6. Remarks on Complaint / 7. Uncalled: A Commentary on Kafka’s “The Test” / 8. Working Through Working / 9. Sketches Toward a Lecture on Democracy / 10. Amphora

Read more less

Book SynopsisReacting against both the British Idealists and the logical positivists, Isaiah Berlin forged a new philosophy best described as post-Idealist. This philosophy was deeply informed by Kantian categories and methods, and conditioned by Vichian themes of historical and cultural variation. An advocate of pluralism without relativism, Berlin believed that it was possible to adopt and live by values, but he could not achieve moral certainty that our values are objectively preferable to all others. Like Collingwood and Oakeshott (and some neo-Kantians), Berlin believed that concepts matter and that they have a history; that human values are numerous and incommensurable; that rationalism in politics is dangerous; and that positivists’ hopes for rigorous social sciences are unrealistic. Interestingly, Collingwood and Oakeshott, both also candidates for post-Idealism, shared Berlin’s commitment to these themes. Ultimately, Berlin’s ‘Two Concepts of Liberty’ is perhaps best perceived as a critique of Bradley’s Ethical Studies.Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: The British Idealists Chapter 2: Collingwood & Oakeshott: Post-Idealists? Chapter 3: Concepts Matter: ‘Two Concepts of Liberty’ and F. H. Bradley Chapter 4: Berlin and the History of Concepts Chapter 5: Berlin and Cultural Pluralism1 Chapter 6: Berlin vs. Rationalism Chapter 7: Berlin’s Philosophy of the Social Sciences Chapter 8: Critical Appraisals

Read more less

Book SynopsisA ground-breaking collection applying Crenshaw's concept of intersectionality to the black diasporic experience in Britain.In the 1980s, Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw first coined the term intersectionality'. Since then, the concept has spread across national and disciplinary boundaries, and has had a transformative impact on the way in which we understand identity and the experience of discrimination. But outside the US, the application of intersectional theory has largely been disconnected from any analysis of Blackness', despite intersectionality's origins in critical race theory (CRT). Curated by Crenshaw, Andrews and Wilson as well as several of the leading scholars of CRT, this collection bridges that gap, and is the first to apply both these concepts to contexts outside the US. Focusing on Blackness in Britain, the contributors examine how scholars and activists are employing intersectionality to foreground Black British experiences. Its essays encompass

Read more less

Book SynopsisCaring is a central aspect of our being. Without it, we would just float along in the world, attaching ourselves superficially to one activity after another as they came up. Caring anchors us to the world and to each other. And yet, understanding what caring is and how it operates in our lives is a challenge. Todd May meets that challenge, canvassing various approaches to care and offering an overview of the key role it plays in our lives. With wit and insight, May addresses the difficulties between understanding care as a reflective attitude and as an emotion, between care and love, between caring for humans and for non-human animals, between self-care and concern for others, and between care and vulnerability.Trade ReviewEveryone seems to be talking about care these days, but why should I care? In this book, Todd May offers a lucid and comprehensive overview of the current discussions about the many philosophical meanings of care. -- Joan Tronto, author of Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of CareThe clear language, humorous asides, and a fairly expansive explanation of major ideas surrounding the meaning of care and care ethics make this short book an excellent resource for undergraduates, non-specialists, and really, anyone who cares about a meaningful life and world. -- Sally Fischer, Professor of Philosophy, Warren Wilson College, Asheville, NCIf you care about improving your life and becoming a morally better, more caring person – or perhaps especially if you don’t now care about these matters – you will benefit greatly from reading this book. It is astonishing that Todd May has managed to convey so much wisdom in a book so short, humorous, and enjoyable to read. -- Jeff McMahan, Sekyra and White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of OxfordTable of Contents1. What is caring? 2. Care ethics 3. Care and the non-human 4. Caring for ourselves 5. Care and vulnerability Conclusion

Read more less

Book SynopsisIconoclasm, Identity Politics and the Erasure of History surveys the origins, uses and manifestations of iconoclasm in history, art and public culture. It examines the various causes and uses of image/property defacement as a tool of political, national, religious and artistic process. This is one of the first books to examine the outbreak of iconoclasm in Europe and North America in the summer of 2020 in the context of previous outbreaks, and it examines the implications of iconoclasm as a form of control, censorship and expression.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat if the problems of modern society don't come from production, but rather consumption and the system of cultural signs? In this classic work from the defining intellectual of the postmodern, Jean Baudrillard, For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign takes Marx's critique of political economy and its analysis of the commodity form as the starting point for an analysis of signs and their meaning in modern society. Influenced by Lefebvre's critique of everyday life, Barthes's semiology, and Situationism, Baudrillard analyses how objects are encoded within the system of signs and meanings that constitute contemporary media and consumer societies. Combining semiological studies and sociology of the consumer society, For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign contains Baudrillard's most extensive engagement with Marxism and shows him at a critical juncture for the development of his thought.Trade ReviewModest, independent, and devastatingly humorous, Jean's work transmitted the lost urbanity of the mid-20th century while speaking of and into the future. -- Chris KrausWhat can one say of Baudrillard? His strange and striking apercus captured the moment, and his predictive powers, as a man who saw early on the rise of the media state, were unique. -- Kathryn BigelowFor a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign (1972) and The Mirror of Production (1973) constitutes, in my view, his most substantial contribution to philosophy, and deserves to be better known. From today's perspective, Baudrillard may seem a more significant prophet than he appeared at the time. * Philosophy Now *The most notorious intellectual celebrity to emerge from Paris since Roland Barthes and the most influential prophet of the media since Marshall McLuhan. * i-D magazine *Superstar of the simulacrum, shaman of the virtual, evangelist of the hyperreal. -- Geoff DyerThe most important French thinker of the past twenty years. -- J.G. BallardThe David Bowie of philosophy * The Guardian *

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs we face the compounded crises of late capitalism, environmental catastrophe and technological transformation, who are the thinkers and the ideas who will allow us to understand the world we live in? McKenzie Wark surveys three areas at the cutting edge of current critical thinking: design, environment, technology and introduces us to the thinking of nineteen major writers. Each chapter is a concise account of an individual thinker, providing useful context and connections to the work of the others. The authors include: Sianne Ngai, Kodwo Eshun, Lisa Nakamura, Hito Steyerl, Yves Citton, Randy Martin, Jackie Wang, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Achille Mbembe, Deborah Danowich and Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Eyal Weizman, Cory Doctorow, Benjamin Bratton, Tiziana Terranova, Keller Easterling, Jussi Parikka.Wark argues that we are too often told that expertise is obtained by specialisation. Sensoria connects the themes and arguments across intellectual silos. They explore the edges of disciplines to show how we might know the world: through the study of culture, the different notions of how we create such things, and the impact that the machines that we devise have had upon us. The book is a vital and timely introduction to the future both as a warning but also as a road map on how we might find our way out of the current crisis.Trade ReviewA provocative and compelling exploration of our digital world as it crashes towards ecological disaster. Counter-intuitive, insightful, and imaginative, Capital is Dead is a timely reminder that there are things worse than capitalism - and we may just be living through them -- Nick Snricek, co-author of Inventing the Future * [in praise of Capital is Dead] *a playbook for the Anthropocene, a set of moves and strategies extracted from an unexpected canon of texts formed by a mash-up of the Soviet avant-garde and the Californian high-tech imaginary. * Radical Philosophy [in praise of Molecular Red] *A very imaginative, historically smart, politically generative thesis . that I think we urgently need. -- Donna Haraway, author of A Cyborg Manifesto * [in praise of Molecular Red] *A wonderful book . informative and moving . a great recovery of an instructive life and literary effort. The book makes the case for a kind of political vision and action we need to recognize and enact. A true pleasure to read. -- Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Mars Trilogy * [in praise of Molecular Red] *Wark is a fine aphorist ... Playful, angry, depressed, celebratory, this is a book for anyone not convinced that there is no alternative to the way we live now. -- Observer * [In Praise of The Beach Beneath the Streets] *McKenzie Wark opens her introduction to Sensoria by asking, 'What is the point of scholarship?' Wark's answer is that scholarship 'is about the common task of knowing the world'. This seems a sound definition as well as a worthwhile project for humanity in the twenty-first century. -- J.J. Charlesworth * ArtReview *

Read more less

Book SynopsisCollaborators for more than four decades, lawyer, author, filmmaker, and multimedia artist Alexander Kluge and social philosopher Oskar Negt are an exceptional duo in the history of Critical Theory precisely because their respective disciplines operate so differently. Dark Matter argues that what makes their contributions to the Frankfurt School so remarkable is how they think together in spite of these differences. Kluge and Negt's "gravitational thinking" balances not only the abstractions of theory with the concreteness of the aesthetic, but also their allegiances to Frankfurt School mentors with their fascination for other German, French, and Anglo-American thinkers distinctly outside the Frankfurt tradition.At the core of all their adventures in gravitational thinking is a profound sense that the catastrophic conditions of modern life are not humankind's unalterable fate. In opposition to modernity's disastrous state of affairs, Kluge and Negt regard the huge mass of dark matter throughout the universe as the lodestar for thinking together with others, for dark matter is that absolute guarantee that happier alternatives to our calamitous world are possible. As illustrated throughout Langston's study, dark matter's promise-its critical orientation out of catastrophic modernity-finds its expression, above all, in Kluge's multimedia aesthetic.Trade ReviewFor years I've built a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean with Richard Langston for my project on the poetic force of Critical Theory. Langston forges in Dark Matter substantial links between central themes from my nearly fifty-year theoretical collaboration with Oskar Negt and a selection of my stories and films over the many years. This book illustrates how the labor involved in thinking together with others over time is like the gravitational effects of dark matter that hold our universe's celestial bodies together. This gravitational thinking is the counterweight necessary for opposing today's world of disruptive algorithms. -- Alexander KlugeIn Dark Matter, Richard Langston examines the encounters between director, author, television producer, and lawyer Alexander Kluge and philosopher and social theoretician Oskar Negt, and sees them as an exceptional constellation. Full of tensions, gaps, intersections, synergies, controversies, and reciprocities, Kluge and Negt's remarkable collaborative project is in Langston's account one of the most exciting and brilliant movements of thought in German intellectual history since the seventies. With sensitivity, precision, and erudition, Dark Matter situates the extensive scope of their books and dialogues within the fields of Critical Theory, political philosophy, historical materialism, literature, art, avant-garde cinema, and the challenges of new media. By meticulously following the twists and turns in their collective thinking, Langston unveils their thought's gravitational centers rooted in capitalism's world of work, modern technologies, counter-public spheres, and aesthetic praxis. Dark Matter succeeds in an intelligent and exemplary fashion in reconstructing the radicality and actuality of Kluge and Negt's collaborations as a vital renewal of critical thinking beyond codified disciplines and schools of thought. In Langston's eyes, their work is an expedition into the unknown dark zones of historical and social experience, a historically speculative enterprise that turns, with its appeal to sociability, cooperative intelligence, and utopian fantasy, against the pessimistic tendencies of catastrophic modernity. More than just a commentary on the works of Kluge and Negt, Dark Matter presents readers a deep, investigative look into the intellectual, philosophical, and political spheres of our present moment. -- Joseph Vogl, Humboldt-Universität, BerlinPraise for Visions of Violence:"Richard Langston's brilliant book Visions of Violence is . had to be written to finally help us find a way out of the spell of the endless repetitions of the very same heroic fable of 1968." -- Rembert Hüser * German Quarterly *Praise for Visions of Violence:"Anyone with a serious interest in the politics and aesthetics of post-war German art will find that much of Langston's study has compelling implications for a theorised apprehension of the avant-garde project after fascism." -- Deborah Lewer * Oxford Art Journal *

Read more less

Book SynopsisDemocracy is in crisis. In every major company it has been stole by elites or in the hands of strong men. In democracy's name we see a raft of policies that spread inequality and xenophobia worldwide. It is clear that democracy - the principle of government by and for the people - is not living up to its promise.In fact, real democracy- inclusive and egalitarian - has in fact never existed. In this urgent and engaging book, Astra Taylor invites us to re-examine the term. Is democracy a means or an end? A process or a set of desired outcomes? What if the those outcomes, whatever they may be - peace, prosperity, equality, liberty, an engaged citizenry - can be achieved by non-democratic means? Or if an election leads to a terrible outcome? If democracy means rule by the people, what does it mean to rule and who counts as the people? The inherent paradoxes are too often unnamed and unrecognized. But to ignore them is no longer possible. Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone offers a better understanding of what is possible, what we want, and why democracy is so hard to realize.Trade ReviewMoths never reach the moon, but they navigate by it; we humans may never reach democracy, Astra Taylor tells us, but we navigate by its ideals. This is a beautiful, revelatory book about ideas and how they matter in everyday life, by the only writer who could herself navigate so gracefully among factory workers, contemporary economics, and ancient Athenian history -- Rebecca Solnit, author of Men Explain Things to MeAstra Taylor is a rare public intellectual, utterly committed to asking humanity's most profound questions yet entirely devoid of pretensions and compulsively readable. Now she plunges deep into the crisis that underlies so many others: the sorry state (and the exhilarating promise) of this thing called democracy. At once richly historical and immediately relevant, this wise, lucid and unflinchingly honest book deserves to be at the center of public debate. -- Naomi Klein, author of No Is Not EnoughWhat a lot of trouble democracy has been! Over the years it's been hijacked by its enemies, its reforms have backfired, it has evaded challenges, it has refused to heed its prophets. But as Astra Taylor reminds us in this timely and sagacious book, there is no substitute. The fate of the world depends on it -- Thomas Frank, author of Listen, LiberalWhat is this thing called Democracy? Google the question and you will exceed one million hits. But for an honest and illuminating answer, read this book?every single word. Searching, lucid, visionary, Astra Taylor takes a deep oceanic dive into the history, meaning, uses, and promise of democracy?moving from Plato's Greece to Syriza's Greece, from the Global South to post-Communist East, from slavery to fascism, liberalism to neoliberalism, Occupy to the Commons. She knows what most political scientists don't: that democracy is a promise unfulfilled, and in our strivings to achieve it nothing is guaranteed. But we can't live without it. -- Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical ImaginationA brilliant, deeply learned discourse on democracy, equality, and how the second might save the first, by one of the most incisive thinkers on participatory politics today. -- Molly Crabapple, author of Brothers of the GunImpressive * New York Times *An impressive contribution to this anxious re-examination of political assumptions and practices . . .Displays considerable intellectual nimbleness -- Randall Kennedy * New York Times *A collage of people, voices, eras, and emotions-[Taylor] covers the suffering of communities as well as their triumphs in solidarity. * Vogue *Astra Taylor's new book - sequel to her brilliantThe People's Platform- is appropriately stellar. She embodies the right or rather the left sort of democratic engagement as both documentary filmmaker and critical analyst alike. Her unshakeable belief in democracy as a viable project of collective self-rule is indeed a radical act. Bring it on. -- Paul Cartledge, author of Democracy: A LifeA politically-engaged exploration, taking us far beyond the idea that democracy just means periodic elections, civil liberties...Strongly recommended * Peace News *

Read more less

Book Synopsis"A brilliant critique of the Right with very sharp insight on some of the shortcomings of the Left, this book is a must-read for anyone looking to understand how dishonest actors spread their propaganda." Ana Kasparian, Host and Executive Producer of The Young Turks Michael Brooks takes on the new "Intellectual Dark Web". As the host of The Michael Brooks Show and co-host of the Majority Report, he lets his understanding of the new media environment direct his analysis of the newly risen conservative rebels who have taken YouTube by storm. Brooks provides a theoretically rigorous but accessible critique of the most prominent "renegades"; including Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson, and Brett Weinstein while also examining the social, political and media environment that these rebels thrive in.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWe are living in the age of decline, or at least crisis, of what might be called a ‘culture of friendship’. Our existence as social beings is constricted in a triangle whose three apices are: the alienated work, subjected to the principle of ruthless competition, the closed, isolated nuclear family and the national or ‘cultural’ community constituted in the act of aggression towards a common enemy (the ‘alien’). It is precisely this constriction that makes the culture of friendship decline, and vice versa: it is this decline that seems to make any other way of life increasingly harder to imagine. However, if we are to resist the temptation of returning to the logic of clashing, violent particularisms and defend ourselves against fascist or fascistoid tendencies that appear on the political horizon, some kind of opening must occur, we must once again be able to experiment with new forms of being together, despite divisions resulting from territorial and cultural identities or family relations. What we need is a renaissance of the culture of friendship. Originally published in Poland, this edition from Zero Books is the first English language publication of In Praise of Friendship.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWe live an age of nostalgia, incarnated by populist fantasies of “taking back control” and making nations “great again". In the long aftermath of the 2007-08 economic crisis, nostalgia has been established as the cultural zeitgeist of Western society. Populist fantasies of nostalgia represent a cry for help against the demise of the societal model of the postwar era, based on stable employment and mass consumption. The promise of an impossible return to the 'good life' of the 20th century, Gandini contends, particularly appeals to the older generations, who are incapable of making sense of the evolution of Western societies after decades of globalization and neoliberal policies. The younger generations, in the meantime, are instead trying to build a new 'good life' based on another form of return, this time to old practices of craft production and consumption.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA plea for bringing democracy to our lived daily experience written in lucid prose.TheSocial Life of Democracy is a response to the polarization of our times and the crisis in democracy being experienced across the world today. Drawing from B. R. Ambedkar’s view that democracy is not a form of government but more a form of society and mental disposition, this book argues that democracy needs to be seen as a form of social life that must be part of our everyday practice. Noting that the obstacles to realizing Ambedkar’s vision of democracy are both material and conceptual, philosopher Sundar Sarukkai critically examines the meaning of democratic action and the function of democracy in different domains ranging from homes to governments. He also examines its relation to labor, science, and religion, and analyzes the ethical processes that are central to democracy. Finally, clarifying the concepts of truth in politics and the ideas of freedom and choice, he persuasively argues in favor of bringing democracy into our everyday lives rather than leaving it exclusively in the domain of electoral politics. Table of ContentsPreface1.The Nature of Democracy2.The Concept of Democracya.Indian Model of Democracyb.Chinese Model of Democracyc.The Myth of the People3.Domains of Democracya.Democratic Selfb.Labourc.Science, Technology and Democracyd.Religion and Democracy4.The Ethical Processes of Democracya.Ethical Act of Votingb.Trusteeshipc.Creating an Experience of the Public5.Democracy and Trutha.Truth, Politics and Democracy6.Democracy and Freedom a.Freedom of Speechb.Freedom to Dissentc.The Problem about Freedom

Read more less

Book SynopsisA passionate, highly accessible clarion call to a world dangerously threatened by irrational superstitions of all kinds. 'Truly a book for our time' Steven Pinker 'In Sweden's public square, Christer Sturmark has done as much as anyone to uphold reason and humane critical thinking' Richard Dawkins 'As lucid and illuminating as it is warm and inspiring' Rebecca Goldstein In country after country, conspiracy theories and religious dogmas that once seemed to have been overtaken by enlightened thought are helping to lift authoritarian leaders into power. The effects are being felt by women, ethnic minorities, teachers, scientists and students – and by the environment, the ultimate victim of climate change denial. We need clear thinking now more than ever. Christer Sturmark is a crusading secular humanist as well as a Swedish publisher and entrepreneur, and The Flame of Reason is his manifesto for a better world. It provides a set of simple tools for clear thinking in the face of populist dogmas, anti-science attitudes and pseudo-philosophy, and suggestions for how we can move towards a new enlightenment. From truth to Quantum Physics, moral philosophy to the Myers-Briggs test, Sturmark offers a passionate defence of rational thought, science, tolerance and pluralism; a warm and engaging guide for anyone who wants to better navigate the modern world. Translated by and co-written with Douglas Hofstadter, celebrated cognitive scientist, physicist and author of Godel, Escher, Bach.Trade ReviewIn an era in which the ideals of the Enlightenment need all the help they can get, we're lucky to have such a lucid, stylish, and intelligent exposition and defense. This is truly a book for our time -- Steven PinkerIn Sweden's public square, Christer Sturmark has done as much as anyone to uphold reason and humane critical thinking... and now his values are gathered and refocused in this book' -- Richard DawkinsChrister Sturmark reflects on our place in history as well as on our potential future as a more united and reasoning humankind. He gives a credible and sensible voice to the new enlightenment-oriented worldview -- Björn UlvaeusIf a book like this had been available when I was in my late teens, it would have saved me years of collecting and contemplating important information about human thinking – and its failures -- Dan Larhammar, President of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesAs lucid and illuminating as it is warm and inspiring -- Rebecca Goldstein

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less