Democracy Against the State: Marx and the Machiavellian Movement

"From the Indignados to the Occupy movements to the Arab Spring, spontaneous, popular political initiatives attract broad sympathy only to see power reassert itself. Abensour has written as persuasive an account of the underlying logic of such movements as I know, and an invaluable critique of their widespread liberal and anarchist (self-) misunderstandings."
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