The Method of Equality: Interviews with Laurent Jeanpierre and Dork Zabunyan

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.

Table of Contents:
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

About the Author :
Jacques Rancière is a leading French philosopher and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Paris-St. Denis. His many books include The Politics of Literature, Aesthetics and Its Discontents and The Future of the Image.

Review :
Words matter to Rancière. In these interviews, against the background of informed and beautifully crafted questions, Rancière works through and articulates, forms and re-forms, the words that contour his thought and provide it with its depth and power: equality, speech, subjectivization, stupidity, contradiction, possibility, event, scene, police, aesthetic regime, and on and on. The Method of Equality is, in reality, a Rancière lexicon in which each of his key words is returned to the political debates and living reality from which it arose. Essential reading for aficionados and newcomers to Rancière’s political philosophy.’ J.M. Bernstein, New School for Social Research "Rancière’s thought, as explored in this book, provides the field of community development not only with insightful, fundamental challenges, but also with really useful ideas for moving forward; and, crucially, with hope."  Anne Harley, Adult Education "Rancière’s thought, as explored in this book, provides the field of community development not only with insightful, fundamental challenges, but also with really useful ideas for moving forward; and, crucially, with hope." Community Development Journal