The concept of democracy — both ideologically and theoretically — is of key importance in “the radical reconception of revolutionary theory,” to quote from our masthead. The following excerpts from Badiou’s contribution to Democracy in What State? may serve as a beginning step in that direction. In this book a number of contemporary thinkers (Giorgio Agamben, [...]
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Political Art
The question of art and revolution is an old one, reaching back at least to the French Revolution. It’s one that every radical activist has probably thought about (probably inconclusively), and it’s one that has arisen for every actual revolution and for many artists. The following talk by Alain Badiou was given at the Miguel Abreu [...]
Zizek: Preserve the vacuum
Zizek spoke October 26 at St Mark’s Bookshop in Manhattan. What follows is not the complete talk, but some interesting parts. Reprinted from impose (with a few corrections), where the complete transcript can be found. Bill Clinton says ominously, “because your demands create a vacuum, and if you don’t bring quickly concrete proposals which will fill in [...]
Some contributions to thinking in the present moment
There’s a new wind blowing across this globalized world, from Tunisia to Egypt to Greece to Spain to Occupy Wall Street. How do the theoretical investigations of this site relate to this, to what’s new and emerging? This question of the emergence of novelty, of understanding this very changing world so as to help to [...]
Badiou on existence
The following is a bit more abstract than what we usually publish here, but for those who want to understand what Badiou is doing philosophically, this essay (originally a talk) will repay the effort. The talk was obviously given several years ago, and was originally published in lacanian ink 29 (Spring 2007). It is republished [...]
Financialization and hegemony
How does (or can) theoretical investigations relate to the rapidly developing “Occupy….” movement? This is a question I was asked recently, and to which I don’t have a ready answer. But the following essay covers a lot of important ground whose relationship to the present moment should be clear — the need for a revolutionary subject, [...]
Zizek on our situation — and communism
Slovaj Zizek is always interesting, always changing, often irritating or apparently dismissable, but always (I believe) serious and radical in intent. The following is republished here from the symptom. Our task is thus to remain faithful to this eternal Idea of communism: to the egalitarian spirit kept alive over thousands of years in revolts and utopian [...]
To what extent is revolutionary theory detachable?
John Steele We’ve had a continuing discussion on this site of the status, relevance, and use of Marxism (and other ‘-isms’ – Lenin, Mao, and anarch) today, in relation to revolutionary work or the possibilities of an emancipatory politics in today’s world. Most recently, we’ve had some debate and a series of contributions, beginning with [...]
Should Marxism have a privileged status?
Following is a response to Steele’s August 1 piece below. Vern Gray has written several essays appearing on khukuri. I think it is confusing, and leads in a wrong direction, to conclude that there were or are “many Marxisms.”… I would argue that some ideologies and politics should be assigned a “privileged position”—not that our conclusions should be limited [...]
How can communism come to be?
Bruno Bosteels is one of that group of Badiou translators (Peter Hallward, Oliver Feltham, Alberto Toscano, Jason Barker are some others) who have also written interpretively and critically on him. Bosteels’ latest writing in this vein is Badiou and Politics, a much anticipated book, literally just out, which readers can expect to see talked about [...]
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