Contingency, Hegemony, Universality: Contemporary Dialogues on the Left
What is the contemporary legacy of Gramsci's notion of Hegemony? How can universality be reformulated now that its spurious versions have been so thoroughly criticized? In this ground-breaking project, Judith Butler, Ernesto Laclau and Slavoj Zizek engage in a dialogue on central questions of contemporary philosophy and politics. Their essays, organized as separate contributions that respond to one another, range over the Hegelian legacy in contemporary critical theory, the theoretical dilemmas of multiculturalism, the universalism-versus-particularism debate, the strategies of the Left in a globalized economy, and the relative merits of post-structuralism and Lacanian psychoanalysis for a critical social theory. While the rigor and intelligence with which these writers approach their work is formidable, Contingency, Hegemony, Universality benefits additionally from their clear sense of energy and enjoyment in a revealing and often unpredictable exchange.
Paperback, 330 pages
ISBN: 9781844676682
January 2011
$15.95 / £8.99
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Other Editions
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Paperback, 300 pages
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ISBN: 9781859842782
July 2000
$24.95
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Part of the Radical Thinkers series
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“If hope is an impossible demand, then we demand the impossible.”— Judith Butler at Occupy Wall Street video
Judith Butler, author of Frames of War and Precarious Life, visited Occupy Wall Street to lend her support to the protesters there. In a rallying speech, amplified through the human microphone, she gave her thoughts on the reception of the movement and its demands.
I came here to lend my support to you today, to offer my solidarity, for this unprecedented display of democracy and popular will. People have asked, 'So what are the demands? What are the demands all these people are making?' Either they say there are no demands and that leaves your critics confused - or they say that the demands for social equality and economic justice are impossible demands. And impossible demands, they say, are just not practical.
If hope is an impossible demand, then we demand the impossible. If the right to shelter, food and employment are impossible demands, then we demand the impossible. If it is impossible to demand that those who profit from the recession redistribute their wealth and cease their greed then yes, we demand the impossible.
But it is true that there are no demands that you can submit to arbitration here because we are not just demanding economic justice and social equality, we are assembling in public, we are coming together as bodies in alliance, in the street and in the square. We're standing here together making democracy, enacting the phrase 'We the people!'
A video of Butler delivering her speech at Occupy Wall Street is available below.
COMPETITION: Win the entire Radical Thinkers backlist!
And here are the answers you've all been so patiently waiting for. Congratulations to our incredibly well-read winners!
Get your radical thinking caps on...To celebrate the publication of Set 5 of the Radical Thinkers series, Verso is offering 2 lucky winners the chance to win all available titles in the five sets published to date.
The highly popular series publishes new editions of important works of continental philosophy in beautifully-designed and affordable editions. Covering the full spectrum of critical thought, the series includes work from radical thinkers such as Walter Benjamin, Judith Butler, Louis Althusser, Jean Baudrillard, Guy Debord, Georg Lukács, Jean-Paul Sartre, Theodor Adorno and many more.
First published in 2005, there are now 60 titles in the series. In 2009, set 4 was launched with a stunning and acclaimed new cover design from Rumors, which has become a hallmark of the series. They have been widely praised, including in the Guardian, Bookforum and the New Statesman.
Radical Thinkers: Judith Butler, Simon Critchley and Jacques Rancière
To celebrate publication of the fifth set of books in Verso's acclaimed Radical Thinkers series, you're invited to listen to some audio from an October 2009 event entitled "Radical Thinkers: Judith Butler, Simon Critchley and Jacques Rancière on the importance of critical theory to social movements today." The event took place at the New School in New York City where angry masses had to be turned away due to over-capacity.
Discussions
Begin a discussionOther books by Slavoj Žižek, Ernesto Laclau, and Judith Butler
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Less Than Nothing
by Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek's masterwork on the Hegelian legacy
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Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory
Analysis of the role of ideology in political movements. -
Did Somebody Say Totalitarianism?
Undermining the liberal-democratic consensus that enables the designation of totalitarianism.by Slavoj Žižek
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Revolution at the Gates
by V. I. Lenin
How to reinvent Lenin in the era of “cultural capitalism.”
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Living in the End Times
by Slavoj Žižek
Žižek analyzes the end of the world at the hands of the “four riders of the apocalypse.”
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The Idea of Communism
Edited by Slavoj Žižek, and Costas Douzinas
An all-star cast of radical intellectuals discuss the continued importance of communism.
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Frames of War
Analyzing the different frames through which we experience war, Butler calls for a reorientation of the Left.
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Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lacan (But Were Afraid to Ask Hitchcock)
Edited by Slavoj Žižek
Hitchcock gets onto the analyst’s couch in this extraordinary volume of case studies.
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In Defense of Lost Causes
by Slavoj Žižek
Acclaimed, adrenalin-fuelled manifesto for universal values.
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First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
by Slavoj Žižek
From the tragedy of 9/11 to the farce of the financial meltdown.
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The Ticklish Subject
by Slavoj Žižek
A specter is haunting Western thought, the specter of the Cartesian subject.
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The Sublime Object of Ideology
by Slavoj Žižek
Exploring the ideologies fantasies of wholeness and exclusion which make up human society.
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The Fragile Absolute
by Slavoj Žižek
Argues that the subversive core of the Christian legacy forms the foundation of a politics of universal emancipation.
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The Plague of Fantasies
by Slavoj Žižek
The relations between fantasy and ideology, and the deluge of digital phantasms surrounding us.
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For They Know Not What They Do
by Slavoj Žižek
The eminent philosopher explodes the roles of pleasure and desire in contemporary politics and culture.
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On Populist Reason
Major analysis of the forces that drive populism and their relation to democracy.
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Emancipation(s)
Laclau argues that the changes of the late twentieth century have altered Enlightenment notions of emancipation.
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Virtue and Terror
by Maximilien Robespierre, and Slavoj Žižek
Robespierre’s justification of the Terror in the French Revolution.
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The Indivisible Remainder
by Slavoj Žižek
Confronts Schelling with Hegel, and illuminates popular culture and modern subjectivity.
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Precarious Life
Responding to the US’s perpetual war, Butler explores how mourning could inspire solidarity.
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Lacan
Edited by Slavoj Žižek
A dazzling re-evaluation of Jacques Lacan, uncovering his hidden inspirations.
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The Metastases of Enjoyment
by Slavoj Žižek
The status of women and the role of violence in contemporary culture and politics.
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Iraq
by Slavoj Žižek
Žižek analyzes the bizarre logic used to justify the attack on Iraq.
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Welcome to the Desert of the Real
by Slavoj Žižek
Probing beneath the level of TV punditry, Žižek offers a highly original and readable account that serves as a fascinating and insightful comprehension of the events of September 11.
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Hegemony and Socialist Strategy
by Ernesto Laclau, and Chantal Mouffe
How is the present crisis of left-wing thought to be understood?
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New Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time
A critical examination of social struggle in the context of late capitalism.
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Mapping Ideology
Edited by Slavoj Žižek
Indispensable contemporary writing on the subject of ideology.
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The Making of Political Identities
Edited by Ernesto Laclau
Abstract and applied analysis of post-Cold War political groupings.
Other Books Of Interest
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Contingency, Hegemony, Universality
by Slavoj Žižek, Ernesto Laclau, et al.
The Hegelian legacy, Left strategy, and post-structuralism versus Lacanian psychoanalysis.