9781844673865-frontcover

Hatred of Democracy

by Jacques Rancière

Translated by Steve Corcoran

A vehement defense of the principle of democracy against neoconservative repression.
Jacques Rancière argues that the West can no longer simply extol the virtues of democracy by contrasting it with the horrors of totalitarianism. As certain governments are exporting democracy by brute force, and a reactionary strand in mainstream political opinion is willing to abandon civil liberties and destroy collective values of equality, Rancière explains how democracy—government by all—attacks any form of power based on the superiority of an elite. Hence the fear, and consequently the hatred, of democracy amongst the new ruling class. In a compelling and timely analysis, Hatred of Democracy rethinks the subversive power of this democratic ideal.

Paperback, 106 pages

ISBN: 9781844673865

August 2009

$16.95 / £8.99

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Reviews

  • Ranciere critiques the political stance in the west that pours scorn on mass protests and popular culture at home, yet promotes the spread of democracy by force throughout the world. ... But Ranciere eschews polemic in order to show the confusion in our political discourse. He challenges what he sees as the widely held view that democratic life is synonymous with 'the apolitical life of the indifferent consumer.'

    – New Statesman

  • This tastily sardonic essay is partly a scholarly sprint through the history of political philosophy, and partly a very enjoyable stream of insults directed at rival penseurs.

    – Guardian

  • A piercing essay on the definitions and redefinitions of the term 'democracy' ... the present catastrophe in Iraq provides more than ample proof of Ranciere's bold assertion that we need to rethink the relationship between democracy and power before setting in motion any more wars in the name of 'freedom'.

    – Times Higher Education Supplement

  • In our time of the disorientation of the left, Rancière’s writings offer one the few consistent conceptualizations of how are to continue to resist.

    – Slavoj Zizek

  • One of the most compelling thinkers and writers in France since Michel Foucault and Gilles Delueze.

    – Tom Conley

Blog

Jacques Rancière postpones visit to Israel following an appeal from Palestinian boycott movement

French political philosopher and leading intellectual Jacques Rancière has postponed a visit to Israel, where he was due to speak at Tel Aviv University, after receiving an open letter from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).

PACBI, in a letter published online, wrote to Rancière urging him "in the strongest terms" to cancel his visit to the university which they claim "is complicit in maintaining a regime of occupation, colonialism and apartheid." The letter went on to explain that Rancière's decision to ignore the letter would "violate the Palestinian call for boycott," and, "constitute a blunt rejection of the appeal from over 170 civil society organisations that comprise the Palestinian BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement."

Rancière was invited to Tel Aviv by, among others, Ariella Azoulay director of the Photo Lexic Research Group at the Minerva Humanities Center. In response to the letter from the PACBI, Rancière, who was due to give a lecture on 25 January, explained why he initially agreed to speak in Israel,

I accepted the invitation to contribute to the debate on the image, of a research group whose work on photography is closely related to the exposure of violations of the rights of the Palestinian people since the birth of the State of Israel.

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By Decca Muldowney / 25 January 2012 / post comment

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