Democracy Against the State: Marx and the Machiavellian MovementISBN: 978-0-7456-5009-8
Hardcover
200 pages
February 2011, Polity
Other Available Formats: Paperback
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Radical Philosophy
"This book makes a most significant contribution. It offers a fresh and generally persuasive interpretation of Marx, while also addressing some contemporary issues within democratic theory."
Perspectives on Politics
"Of interest primarily to scholars of Marxism and contemporary French political theory. Recommended."
Choice
"Democracy is not a State-form. The power of the people is the
antithesis of the Statist principle. By maintaining with Marx, and
against the Marxist tradition, this radical thesis, Miguel Abensour
makes an essential contribution to the urgent task of returning the
words 'politics' and 'democracy' to their original meaning."
Jacques Rancière, University of Paris
"This is a long-awaited translation of a very important book.
Abensour presents an utterly persuasive reading of the early Marx
in terms of the notion of ‘true democracy' which cannot be
reduced to the State-form. Thus there is a Machiavellian moment of
political decision in Marx that exceeds the identification of
politics with the State. The work is a hugely suggestive and
important intervention into contemporary theoretical
debates."
Simon Critchley, New School for Social Research
"At a time when popular distrust of the State is monopolized by
right-wing movements, it is healthy to be reminded that there is a
powerful counterpart on the left. In his provocative defense of
'insurgent democracy,' Abensour shows the abiding power of a
libertarianism unafraid to acknowledge its debt to anarchist
thought and practice."
Martin Jay, University of California, Berkeley