The Method of Equality

The development of Rancière’s philosophical work, from his formative years through the political and methodological break with Louis Althusser and the lessons of May 68, is documented here, as are the confrontations with other thinkers, the controversies and occasional misunderstandings. So too are the unity of his work and the distinctive style of his thinking, despite the frequent disconnect between politics and aesthetics and the subterranean movement between categories and works. Lastly one sees his view of our age, and of our age’s many different and competing realities. What we gain in the end is a rich and multi-layered portrait of a life and a body of thought dedicated to the exercise of philosophy and to the emergence of possible new worlds.

FOREWORD PART ONE: GENESES CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH EDUCATION READING CAPITAL ATTITUDE TO COMMUNIST ENGAGEMENT MAY 68, VINCENNES AND THE GAUCHE PROLETARIENNE TURNING POINTS IN THE NIGHTS OF LABOUR BIRTH OF A METHOD: WAYS OF READING AND WRITING MICHEL FOUCAULT LES REVOLTES LOGIQUES AND THE FALLOUT FROM MAY 68 CINEMA, LEFT-WING FICTION AND POPULAR MEMORY PART TWO: LINES HERITAGE AND SINGULARITY ANTI-SYSTEMATIC SYSTEMATICITY PRIVILEGING SPACE, RETHINKING TIME EXCESS OR EVENT THE DEFINITION OF A SCENE SUBJECTIFICATION IN WORDS FACULTIES OR POSSIBILITIES AESTHETIC REVOLUTION, DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION? PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING AND ORDINARY DISCOURSES PHILOSOPHY IN EFFECTS THE REST IS UP TO YOU THE LAUGHTER IN A THOUGHT PART THREE: THRESHHOLDS DEMYSTIFICATION OR DECONSTRUCTION CONSENSUS AND STUPIDITY WARDING OFF MASTERY LOCATING THE UNCONSCIOUS PROLETARIANS THEN AND NOW EQUALITY/INEQUALITIES THE ORDERING OF THE COMMON DISIDENTIFICATION AND SUBJECTIFICATION POLITICS AND INSTITUTIONS THE PLACE OF THE SOCIAL NEWNESS AND HISTORICITY THE DISPERSAL OF IMAGES; ANOTHER ART REGIME? POPULAR CULTURES PART FOUR: PRESENT TENSES MAPPING POSSIBILITIES FIGURES OF THE PRESENT, MODALITIES OF THE ‘POLICE’ RUPTURES, REVOLUTIONS, REVOLTS A NEW INTERNATIONALISM? MIGRANT BODIES, SUFFERING BODIES HUMANS, NON-HUMANS: ON POLITICAL ECOLOGY A WORLD THAT HAS LOST ALL SENSE OF REALITY: HOW DO WE INFORM OURSELVES? THE HUMAN INTEREST STORY, ORDINARY LIVES, INVESTIGATION PRECARIOUS AND POPULAR ARTS OF LIVING THE DIVISON OF THE SENSIBLE AND CONTEMPORARY ART THE FUTURE OF SOCIALISM POLITICAL ECONOMICS INTERVIEWS AND DIALOGUE INDEX