Thinking with Balibar
A Lexicon of Conceptual Practice
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This volume, the first sustained critical work on the French political philosopher Étienne Balibar, collects essays by sixteen prominent philosophers, psychoanalysts, anthropologists, sociologists, and literary critics who each identify, define, and explore a central concept in Balibar’s thought. The result is a hybrid lexicon-engagement that makes clear the depth and importance of Balibar’s contribution to the most urgent topics in contemporary thought.
The book shows the continuing vitality of materialist thought across the humanities and social sciences and will be fundamental for understanding the philosophical bases of the contemporary left critique of globalization, neoliberalism, and the articulation of race, racism, and economic exploitation.
Contributors: Emily Apter, Étienne Balbar, J. M. Bernstein, Judith Butler, Monique David-Ménard, Hanan Elsayed, Didier Fassin, Stathis Gourgouris, Bernard E. Harcourt, Jacques Lezra, Patrice Maniglier, Warren Montag, Adi Ophir, Bruce Robbins, Ann Laura Stoler, Gary Wilder
“A collection like this one that explores and extends aspects of Etienne Balibar's work for an American audience is long overdue. The book understands that Balibar is a philosopher who moves the critical debate in crucial ways on a theoretical level, but who is doing so while attending to their implications for practical political problems and their solutions.”---Ellen Burt, University of California, Irvine
Ann Laura Stoler (Edited By)
Ann Laura Stoler is Willy Brandt Distinguished University Professor of Anthropology and Historical Studies at The New School for Social Research where she directs the Institute for Critical Social Inquiry. Her most recent book is Duress: Imperial Durabilities in Our Times (Duke, 2016).
Stathis Gourgouris (Edited By)
Stathis Gourgouris is Professor of Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University. His most recent book is The Perils of the One (Columbia, 2019).
Jacques Lezra (Edited By)
Jacques Lezra is Professor and Chair of Hispanic Studies at the University of California—Riverside. His most recent book is On the Nature of Marx’s Things: Translation as Necrophilology (Fordham, 2018).
Preface | vii
Introduction: Balibar and the Philosophy of the Concept
Warren Montag | 1
Anthropological
Bruce Robbins | 15
Border-Concept (of the Political)
Stathis Gourgouris | 28
Civil Religion: Secularism as Religion?
Judith Butler | 45
Concept
Étienne Balibar | 54
Contre- / Counter-
Bernard E. Harcourt | 71
Conversion
Monique David-Ménard | 85
Cosmopolitics
Emily Apter | 94
Interior Frontiers
Ann Laura Stoler | 117
Materialism
Patrice Maniglier | 140
The Political
Adi Ophir | 158
Punishment
Didier Fassin | 183
Race
Hanan Elsayed | 193
Relation
Jacques Lezra | 211
Rights
J. M. Bernstein | 230
Solidarity
Gary Wilder | 253
Bibliography | 275
List of Contributors | 311
Index | 315
