the left hemisphere - mapping critical theory today

The Left Hemisphere: Mapping CriticalTheory Todayby Razmig KeucheyanTranslated by Gregory Elliott

A panoramic account of the worlds leading writers andthinkers

As the crisis of capitalism unfolds, the need for alternatives is felt ever moreintensely. The struggle between radical movements and the forces of reaction willbe merciless. A crucial battlefield, where the outcome of the crisis will in part bedecided, is that of theory.

Over the last twenty-five years, radical intellectuals across the world haveproduced important and innovative ideas. The endeavour to transform the worldwithout falling into the catastrophic traps of the past has been a commonelement uniting these new approaches.

This bookaimed at both the general reader and the specialistoffers the firstglobal cartography of the expanding intellectual field of critical contemporarythought. More than thirty authors and intellectual currents of every continent arepresented in a clear and succinct manner. A history of critical thought in thetwentieth and twenty-first centuries is also provided, helping situate currentthinkers in a broader historical and sociological perspective.

Contents:

PART I: CONTEXTS

1 The Defeat of Critical Thinking (1977-93)2 A Brief History of the 'New Left' (1956-77)3 Contemporary Critical Intellectuals: A Typology

PART II: THEORIES

4 System

Michael Hardt and Toni Negri, or the 'Joy of Being Communist': Operaismo - Empire and Multitude - Towards a Cognitive Capitalism?

The Revival of Theories of Imperialism: Marxism and Imperialism - Leo Panitch- Robert Cox - David Harvey

The Nation-State: Persistence or Transcendence?: Benedict Anderson and TomNairn - Jrgen Hambermas and tienne Balibar - Wang Hui - GiorgioAgamben

Capitalisms Old and New: Critique of Cognitive Capitalism - Robert Brenner -Giovanni Arrighi - Elmar Altvater - Luc Boltanski

5 Subjects

Equality as Event: Jacques Rancire - Alain Badiou - Slavoj iek

Post-Femininities: Donna Haraway - Judith Butler - Gayatri Spivak

Class Against Class: E. P. Thompson - David Harvey - Erik Olin Wright -lvaro Garca Linera

Conflictual Identities: Nancy Fraser, Axel Honneth, Seyla Benhabib - AchilleMbembe - Ernesto Laclau - Fredric Jameson

Conclusion: Worksites

Index

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V E R S O About Authors Books Blog Events Subjects40 years of radical publishing

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ReviewsExplains the key ideas, and the contradictions within them, of authorswho are often cited but rarely read. Le Monde diplomatique

A precious tool permitting us to escape the whingeing about themediocrity of thinkers today and to help us anticipate the tremors yet tocome. Le Nouvel observateur

Written with intelligence and clarity. Libration

In this courageous and audacious work, the sociologist Razmig Keucheyanoffers a robust . . . panorama of contemporary critical theories. Nonfiction.fr

An impressive tour de force, providing us with a summary ofcontemporary critical theories that is both rigorous and clear. Philosophie magazine

Blog

Durand, Kouvelakis and Keucheyan: "Make common causewith Greece"Syriza coming to power in Greece at the end of January has finallydisproven the argument that it is possible to implement an alternative toneoliberalism within the framework of the European Union. The EUtreaties are neoliberal, in their very DNA. Since the 1986 Single EuropeanAct, or even before then, we have seen constant proof of the EUs neoliberalDNA, and even its hardening. Up till now, the untrammeled hegemony ofneoliberalism could have been blamed on this or that government cominginto office: in this view, the reason why austerity policies reigned acrossEurope was that a Franois Hollande, a Matteo Renzi or some other social-liberal lacked courage or betrayed their campaign commitments to reorientEuropean policies.

But with Syriza, that argument has collapsed. After all, Alexis Tsipras andYanis Varoufakis have clearly been working with some determination to tryand bring about change at the continental level; but they have done so invain. Since 4 February the European Central Bank has cut off the mainsource of financing for the Greek banking system, while the payments fromEurope itself were broken off in summer of 2014. The noose is tightening,pushing the country toward a disorderly bankruptcy and chaos, unless ofcourse it accepts the humiliating terms imposed by the EU.

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By John Merrick / 01 May 2015 / 0 comments

Protesting in France could land you in prisonThe right to demonstrate is non-negotiable. But in towns and cities acrossFrance, society is being reordered in a way that criminalises social andpolitical struggles.

In Madrid, the opponents of the new Internal Security Act organized ademonstration of holograms in the Spanish Parliament.

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By Mike Watson / 24 April 2015 / 0 comments

An interview with Franois Maspero: A few

Articles

V E R S O About Authors Books Blog Events Subjects40 years of radical publishing

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misunderstandingsIn commemoration of the death of author and publisher Franois Maspero,who passed away on Saturday, April 11 at the age of 83. Verso presents thistranslated interview with the founder of ditions Maspero, the publishinghouse which has served as an inspiration for radical left publishing sincethe fifties.

Franois Maspero (19 January 1932 11 April 2015)

We see the publisher Franois Maspero as having played a leading role insmuggling across the communist and anti-colonial thought of the postwarperiod and preserving its heritage. Indeed, ditions Maspero is anunavoidable reference point for any discussion of critical publishing inFrance. Masperos output was the theatre of important debates on the farLeft in the 1960s and 1970s, and played a pioneering role in many fields. Itwas Maspero who published Fanon, the political writings of Baldwin,Malcolm X and Che, anthologies of classic labour-movement works,Althussers Thorie collection, the journal Partisans We wanted to askhim about his project and the editorial ambitions that he had at the time.Here we reproduce what he calls an attempt at a response to ourquestions.

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By Mike Watson / 13 April 2015 / 1 comments

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