TEHRAN ( IBNA) -- A book on philosophy ‘Revolutionary Subjectivity in Post-Marxist Thought: ‎Laclau, Negri, Badiou (Rethinking Political and International Theory)’ (2016) by Oliver ‎Harrison has been translated into Persian and is available in Iranian bookstores.‎
This work has been translated into Persian by Parisa Shakourzadeh. Ney publishing in Tehran has released ‘Revolutionary Subjectivity in Post-Marxist Thought: Laclau, Negri, Badiou’ in 219 pages.
Since the onset of the Global Financial Crisis the ideas of Karl Marx have once again become prominent in social and political thought. This book turns to Marx’s theory of revolutionary subjectivity as a means of assessing the work of three contemporary global theorists: Ernesto Laclau, Antonio Negri, and Alain Badiou, considered here together for the first time.
The book’s central argument is that although each of these thinkers is indeed ‘beyond’ Marx, the extent to which they abandon Marx’s theory is problematized through the continued inspiration they draw from a particular Marxist thinker: Laclau in relation to Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, Negri in relation to Lenin’s notion of organizational form; Badiou in relation to Mao’s notion of the ‘inquiry’ and the primacy of political praxis.
While providing a critical examination of the theory of revolutionary subjectivity in Laclau, Negri and Badiou, due to the fact such aspects were already present in Marx’s own theory, this book also offers insights into the nature of post-Marxism itself. Whilst accepting their respective differences, the conclusion offers a synthesis of all three theoretical approaches as a means of understanding the constitution of revolutionary subjectivity today.
Gary Browning from Oxford Brookes University comments on this book: “This book is a substantive and innovative attempt to bring together and analyze the transformation of Marxism into post-Marxism. Harrison’s novel approach, comprehensive exposition and rich textual engagement enables those with only broad knowledge of the field to understand the particular challenges and developments of post-Marxism, both of which are often complicated beyond reason.
Oliver Harrison is a lecturer in Political Theory at Nottingham Trent University.