Theorizing Contemporary Anarchism: Solidarity, Mimesis and Radical Social Change

(Hardback)

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The turn of the Millennium demonstrated a fully-fledged revival and fusion of various left-wing social movements with differing agendas. Movements for womens, black, indigenous, LGTB and animal liberation as well as ecological, anti-nuclear and anti-war groups unified against the global capital. Considering the diverse emphases of these movements, is there a philosophical framework that could help us understand their nature and their modes of operation in the 21st century This book provides a set of conceptual tools offering a theoretical model of slow social transformation, a modality of social change that explicitly differs from the irruptive model of a revolution or a paradigm-changing event. Instead, it proposes the two concepts of mimetic contagion and solidarity with singularity which allow us to understand what is currently happening in the activist milieu. By bringing together some of todays most important thinkers, including Butler, Girard, Badiou, and Sloterdijk this book suggests a philosophical lens to look at the alternative living projects that contemporary left-wing activists undertake in practice. At the heart of their projects lie the pressing concerns that these contemporary philosophers currently debate. Breaking from the conceptual apparatus of the Marxian tradition, Theorizing Contemporary Anarchism instead takes Hegelian concepts and feeds them through the thought of contemporary theorists in order to form an original, productive, and inclusive scaffold with which to understand todays world of social and political movements.

Reviews

A remarkably rich and intrepid work that will surely make a lasting contribution to anarchist discourse in the present. I cannot recommend it to readers strongly enough. * Anarchist Studies *
This is an engaging and ambitious analysis of contemporary political philosophy which examines the work of Judith Butler, Alain Badiou, Peter Sloterdijk and others to discuss the plural political practices that exemplify contemporary radical politics. Using two novel concepts mimetic contagion and solidarity with singularity the book develops an anarchist model of slow social transformation and is a challenging and timely intervention into current theoretical debates. * Ruth Kinna, Professor of Political Theory, department of Politics, History and International Relations, Loughborough University, UK *
Iwona Janicka's Theorizing Contemporary Anarchism is a welcome addition to the burgeoning literature on anarchist theory. In clear and compelling language, she marshals recent political theory in order to construct an original position, one that offers a new framework for understanding political change. * Todd May, Professor of Philosophy, Clemson University, USA *

Author Bio

Iwona Janicka is British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow with the University of Warwick, UK.