In the uprisings of the Arab world, Alain Badiou discerns echoes of the European revolutions of 1848. In both cases, the object was to overthrow despotic regimes maintained by the great powers-regimes designed to impose the will of financial oligarchies. Both events occurred after what was commonly thought to be the end of a revolutionary epoch: in 1815, the final defeat of Napoleon; and in 1989, the fall of the Soviet Union. But the revolutions of 1848 proclaimed for a century and a half the return of revolutionary thought and action. Likewise, the uprisings underway today herald a worldwide resurgence in the liberating force of the masses-despite the attempts of the 'international community' to neutralize its power.
Badiou's book salutes this reawakening of history, weaving examples from the Arab Spring and elsewhere into a global analysis of the return of emancipatory universalism.

Testing the winds of history blowing from the Arab revolts

About the Author
Alain Badiou teaches philosophy at the Ecole normale superieure and the College international de philosophie in Paris. He is the author of several seminal works, including Theory of the Subject, Being and Event and Manifesto for Philosophy. His recent books include The Meaning of Sarkozy, and The Communist Hypothesis.

Reviews
A figure like Plato or Hegel walks here among us! -- Slavoj Zizek
An heir to Jean-Paul Sartre and Louis Althusser. * New Statesman *
One of the most important philosophers writing today. -- Joan Copjec
Scarcely any other moral thinker of our day is as politically clear-sighted and courageously polemical, so prepared to put notions of truth and universality back on the agenda. -- Terry Eagleton
Shaking the foundations of Western liberal democracy. * Times Higher Education Supplement *



Book Information
ISBN 9781844678792
Author Alain Badiou
Format Hardback
Page Count 126
Imprint Verso Books
Publisher Verso Books
Weight(grams) 247g
Dimensions(mm) 203mm * 137mm * 15mm