Spring 2008

Professor Kristin Ross

G29.1560, G45.1560

Contemporary Critical Theories: Rancière and the Post-Althusserians

In this seminar we will be primarily concerned with the work of Jacques Rancière. We will read a selection of his writings, including his attack on Althusser, his historical writings associated with Révoltes Logiques, and his more recent political and aesthetic essays. Some attention will be paid to his critical works on film and literature. We will situate Rancière’s writing in the context of the work of Louis Althusser, and of the other post-Althusserians in Rancière’s cohort: Balibar, Badiou, Macherey, and Terray.