Synopses & Reviews
Alain Badiou, in this sharp and focused intervention, claims that, in and of itself, the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as President is not an event, nor is it the cause for wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth. To understand the significance of 'Sarkozy,' we have to look behind the insignificance and vulgarity of the figure and ask what he represents, namely a reactionary tradition which goes back to the early nineteenth century. To escape from the ambiance of depression and fear that currently envelops the Left, Badiou casts aside the slavish worship of electoral democracy and maps out a communist hypothesis that can lay the basis for emancipatory politics in the twenty-first century.
Review
"Magnificently stirring ... a characteristically lucid polemic from a philosopher who is far from willing to abandon humanity to the vicissitudes of so-called global capitalism." Mark Fisher
Review
In the tradition of revolutionary pamphleteering. --Michael Cronin
Review
In this enjoyably bilious essay, Badiou reads the coming-to-power of Nicolas Sarkozy as the latest episode of 'black reaction" to May 1968.Compelling ... He deconstructs, with languid, sarcastic ferocity, the notion that 'France chose Sarkozy" ... a very French piece of political venom. -- Rafael Behr
Review
Heir to Jean-Paul Sartre and Louis Althusser ... a thundering, rallying tirade. -- Lucy Wadham
Review
Incisive, incredibly readable and funny critique. -- Christopher Bickerton
Synopsis
A trenchant and witty dissection of the French political scene by the leading radical philosopher.
Synopsis
In this incisive, acerbic work, Alain Badiou looks beyond the petty vulgarity of the French president to decipher the true significance of what he represents—a reactionary tradition that goes back more than a hundred years. To escape the malaise that has enveloped the Left since Sarkozy’s election, Badiou casts aside the slavish worship of electoral democracy and maps out a communist hypothesis that lays the basis for an emancipatory politics of the twenty-first century.
About the Author
Alain Badiou teaches philosophy at the E?cole normale supérieure and the Collège international de philosophie in Paris. In addition to several novels, plays and political essays, he has published a number of major philosophical works, including Theory of the Subject, Being and Event, Manifesto for Philosophy, and Gilles Deleuze. His recent books include The Meaning of Sarkozy, Ethics, Metapolitics, Polemics, The Communist Hypothesis, Five Lessons on Wagner, and Wittgenstein’s Anti-Philosophy.