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Establishing the relevance of Jean-Francois Lyotard's philosophy to contemporary politics
It is largely the political dimension to Jean-François Lyotard's work that singles him out from his poststructuralist and postmodernist contemporaries. He is invariably 'thinking politics', concerned to find ways of translating philosophical thought into a basis for political action. Lyotard's work as a whole represents a consistent critique of the power structures of contemporary culture; this book ranges through his extensive oeuvre to establish him as the most politically-committed of contemporary sceptical thinkers. Sim applies the 'little narrative' notion to current ideological struggles, and explores how Lyotard's brand of pragmatism can provide a focus for political theory and action in a cultural climate featuring a resurgence of right-wing extremism.
Stuart Sim is retired Professor of Critical Theory at Northumbria University. He has published widely on critical theory, and is a Fellow of the English Association. He has edited
The Lyotard Dictionary (2011) and
The Edinburgh Companion to Critical Theory (2016), and has written several monographs including The End of Modernity (2010) and Addicted to Profit (2012).
List of contents
1. Introduction: Thinking Politics with Lyotard; 2. 'Philosophical Politics' in the 21st Century; 3. Relativism and the Problem of Value Judgement; 4. Lyotard and the Post-Marxist Turn; 5. The Politics of the Differend; 6. The Politics of Heidegger; 7. Thinking the Politics of the Future; 8. Aesthetics and Politics; 9. Conclusion: Towards a Politics of the Event; Bibliography; Index.
About the author
Stuart Sim is retired Professor of Critical Theory at Northumbria University. He has published widely on critical theory, and is a Fellow of the English Association. Amongst his recent publications are The Lyotard Dictionary (2011), Addicted to Profit: Reclaiming Our Lives from the Free Market (2012), Fifty Key Postmodern Thinkers (2013), and, with Brett Wilson and Barbara Hawkins (eds) Art, Science & Cultural Understanding (2014).
Summary
Stuart Sim explores how Lyotard's brand of pragmatism can provide a focus for political theory and action in our cultural climate, especially in light of the dramatic resurgence of right-wing extremism.
