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This book is about the ways in which modern enlightenment, rather than liberating humanity from tyranny, has subjected us to new servitude imposed by systems of mass manipulation, electronic vigilance, compulsive consumerism, and the horrors of a seemingly unending global war on terror. The main intellectual aims of this title are the following: the analysis of spectacle, the criticism of providential enlightenment, and the examination of positive dialectics. The spectacle, in this case, is the apotheosis of the culture industries, a total inversion of reality and of our existences. Providential enlightenment is not only a critique of the failure of enlightenment, but of the mutilation of historical enlightenments. Positive dialectics signal a new era of intellectual engagement in the construction of our historical future. During a time in which national democracies seem an imperial farce, it is not enough for intellectuals faced with all this destruction to blithely recommend resistance. The book thus ties American, British, French and German theoretical traditions into a reflexive challenge to the notion of intellectual as critic, and argues instead for a trespassive tradition of cultural leadership.
Table des matières
1. Redefining Enlightenment.- 2. Critique of Providential Enlightenment.- 3. Enlightenment and Power.- 4. Enlightenment in an Age of Destruction.
A propos de l'auteur
Christopher Britt is Associate Professor at The George Washington University, USA. He is the author of Quixotism: The Imaginative Denial of Spain’s Loss of Empire (2005) and of Imperial Idiocy: A Reflection on Forced Displacement in the Americas (Forthcoming: 2017).
Paul Fenn is the leader of the Community Choice Energy movement to localize energy in the United States. He is the author of several hallmark U.S. laws (California AB117, 2002; Massachusetts Chapter 164; San Francisco Charter Section 9.107.8, 2001; Oakland Measure X, 1998); primary architect of implemented policies to localize and democratize energy (San Francisco, 2013, Sonoma County, 2014); and author of numerous published essays.
Eduardo Subirats is Professor at New York University, USA. He is the author of some forty books in Spanish, as well as many articles in Spanish, German, English, and Portuguese. His main books deal with topics of aesthetics, cultural theory, colonialism, and literary theory.
Résumé
Formulates a new understanding of a common concept (enlightenment) by framing it as a trans-historical and cross-cultural phenomenon.
Provides an alternative to current resistance theory in arguing for new modes of intellectual engagement in politics in an age of crisis.
Contextualizes the practice of critical theory within contemporary political discussions on topics such as climate change, nuclear proliferation, and war.
