Moments Politiques

{{ _getLangText('m_detailInformation_goodsAuthorText') }}Jacques Ranciere
{{ _getLangText('m_detailInformation_goodsPublisherText') }}Seven Stories Press
2014年11月11日
ISBN:9781609805333
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How do we define politics? What is our role in the unfolding of the political?

Moments Politiques finds Jacques Ranciere, the legendary French philosopher, addressing these questions in essays and interviews drawn from thirty years of passionate public discourse. Reflecting on events from the Paris uprisings of May 1968 to the near present, and on his contemporaries including Michel Foucault, Guy Debord, and Roland Barthes, Ranciere interrogates our understanding of equality, democracy, and the shifting definition of communism today.

In these short, provocative, accessible pieces, we are asked to imagine a society where the “anarchic bedrock of the political” is precisely “the power of anyone.” This is a world of radical equality. It is a place where the student or factory worker’s opinion is equal to that of any banker or politician. To support these ideas, key concepts of Ranciere’s political thought are introduced, such as his notions of dissensus and political performance, and his special definition of “police.” Moments Politiques stages unflinching confrontations with immigration law, new waves of racism, and contemporary forms of intervention. As ever, Ranciere leads by example and breathes life into his argument that “dissent is what makes society liveable.”


About the Author:

Born in 1940 in Algiers, JACQUES RANCIERE is one of the most important figures in contemporary philosophy. He studied at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris under the tutelage of philosopher Louis Althusser, but broke with his mentor after the May 1968 uprisings. It was during this time that Ranciere began to formulate his theory of radical equality, and his critiques of elitism in the Western philosophical tradition. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris VIII and conducts a summer seminar at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. His many books include The Politics of Aesthetics, The Future of the Image, Hatred of Democracy, and The Emancipated Spectator. As our universities more and more come to resemble corporations, with our “public intellectuals” as sentries lined up to defend the status quo, Ranciere stands out for his belief that intelligence and resistance are inextricably linked.


About the Translator:

MARY FOSTER's previous translation for Seven Stories Press was Order Without Power, a collection of essays by Normand Baillergeon.