Description
Book SynopsisProdigiously influential, Jacques Derrida gave rise to a comprehensive rethinking of the basic concepts and categories of Western philosophy in the latter part of the twentieth century, with writings central to our understanding of language, meaning, identity, ethics and values.
In 1993, a conference was organized around the question, 'Whither Marxism?â, and Derrida was invited to open the proceedings. His plenary address, 'Specters of Marx', delivered in two parts, forms the basis of this book. Hotly debated when it was first published, a rapidly changing world and world politics have scarcely dented the relevance of this book.
Trade Review"Its importance within the Derridean canon cannot be overemphasized ... The text that scholars turn to ... to understand the politics of deconstruction." – Southern Humanities Review
"One of Derrida's best books." – New Statesman and Society
'Derrida presents a provocative and ... insightful interpretation of Marx. [He] shows convincingly that Marx is haunted by history and that he wants to put it to an end.' - RRPE
'Derrida is considered a classic of the postmodern canon.' - New York Review of Books
'Its importance within the Derridean canon cannot be overemphasized ... the text that scholars turn to ... to understand the politics of deconstruction.' - Southern Humanities Review
'One of Derrida's best books … More explicitly than before, he has taken politics and history as his themes.' - New Statesman
'Always a man of the left, [Derrida] felt able to write this book only when Soviet communism had collapsed, as his espousal of Marx was then, he said, less likely to be misunderstood.' - The Guardian
Table of ContentsEditor's Introduction. Note on the Text. Dedication. Exordium 1. Injunctions of Marx 2. Conjuring - Marxism 3. Wears and Tears (Tableau of an Ageless World) 4. In the Name of the Revolution, the Double Barricade (Impure "Impure History of Ghosts") 5. Apparition of the Inapparent - the Phenomenological "Conjuring Trick". Notes. Index
