Agamben and Radical Politics represents an important and well-executed effort in the field of political theory and deserves praise for its relevance and political timeliness regardless of the inherent untimeliness that generally characterizes Agamben's thought. The collection is, moreover, skillfully organized on a thematic level and the majority of the contributors present their arguments in such a way as to ... Read moremake them accessible even to readers unfamiliar with the inner workings of Agamben's philosophical corpus. In the face of growing contemporary challenges, Agamben and Radical Politics endeavors to set the stage for a possible reconfiguration of the conceptual foundation of our institutions and prevailing paradigms. This reorientation is essential for the urgent cultivation new modes and practices of resistance to the global hegemony and ceaseless violence of our current economic and political order.
Jared C. Bly, Villanova University, Society + Space Agamben has undoubtedly been one of the most influential thinkers of the last decade or so. What I find particularly important in this book is the fact that it clearly delivers the sense that the Agambenian project is not over but, on the contrary, that the Italian philosopher, albeit in continuity with his past work, has opened new lines of thought that may help us 'thinking the present'. When reading the essays composing this volume, one is left with a clear feeling that the 'Agamben effect' and its related debates have moved on, well beyond the initial stages of the homo sacer project.
Claudio Minca, Wageningen University, Contemporary Political Theory Show Less