Author Archives: stuartelden

Roberto Esposito, The Faces of the Adversary: The Enigma of Jacob and the Angel – trans. Zakiya Hanati, Polity, February 2026

Posted on March 4, 2026 by stuartelden

Roberto Esposito, The Faces of the Adversary: The Enigma of Jacob and the Angel – trans. Zakiya Hanati, Polity, February 2026

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Afshin Matin-Asgari, Axis of Empire: A History of Iran–US Relations – Verso, January 2026

Posted on March 3, 2026 by stuartelden

Afshin Matin-Asgari, Axis of Empire: A History of Iran–US Relations – Verso, January 2026 A chronicle of intrigue and influence in the Iran-US entanglement Ironic plot twists and colorful characters abound in Afshin Matin-Asgari’s accessible history of relations between the … Continue reading →

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Amar Thorton and Katherine Harloe, Women Working the Past: Archaeology, History and Heritage in Britain, 1870–1950 – University of London Press, December 2026

Posted on March 3, 2026 by stuartelden

Amar Thorton and Katherine Harloe, Women Working the Past: Archaeology, History and Heritage in Britain, 1870–1950 – University of London Press, December 2026 This book offers a new history of women’s integral contribution to archaeology, history, and heritage in nineteenth- … Continue reading →

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‘A Line Is Followed, a Strategy Is Constructed – An Interview with Henri Lefebvre (1979)’, trans. Roberto Mozzachiodi, Historical Materialism (open access)

Posted on March 2, 2026 by stuartelden

‘A Line Is Followed, a Strategy Is Constructed – An Interview with Henri Lefebvre (1979)’, trans. Roberto Mozzachiodi, Historical Materialism (open access) This interview with Henri Lefebvre was conducted for the French Communist Party (PCF) journal La Nouvelle Critique in … Continue reading →

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Jan Eijking, The Technocratic International: Experts and the Making of a World from Nowhere – Oxford University Press, July 2026

Posted on March 2, 2026 by stuartelden

Jan Eijking, The Technocratic International: Experts and the Making of a World from Nowhere – Oxford University Press, July 2026 Most international organisations today-from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to the World Health Organisation-present themselves as technical institutions separate from political … Continue reading →

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A 1970 French interdisciplinary seminar on structuralism, organised by Gilbert Gadoffre, André Lichnerowicz and François Perroux, and attended by Suzanne Bachelard, Pierre Bourdieu, Georges Canguilhem, Michel Foucault, André Martinet, Jacques Monod, Clémence Ramnoux, Michel Serres, Gilbert Simondon and René Thom

Posted on March 1, 2026 by stuartelden

An interdisciplinary seminar on structuralism was held in France in September 1970. Attended by a wide range of speakers, it was an interesting moment in the French reception of this trend in ‘French theory’. Back in October 2022 I posted a … Continue reading →

Posted in Clémence Ramnoux, Georges Canguilhem, Michel Foucault, Michel Serres, Pierre Bourdieu, Sunday Histories, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Onur Erdur, School of the South: The Colonial Roots of French Theory – trans. Andrew Brown, Polity, July 2026

Posted on February 28, 2026 by stuartelden

Onur Erdur, School of the South: The Colonial Roots of French Theory – trans. Andrew Brown, Polity, July 2026 Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, Hélène Cixous, Jean-François Lyotard, Étienne Balibar, Jacques Rancière: these were among the luminaries of … Continue reading →

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Elizabeth Campbell, Museum Worthy: Nazi Art Plunder in Postwar Western Europe – Oxford University Press, August 2024

Posted on February 28, 2026 by stuartelden

Elizabeth Campbell, Museum Worthy: Nazi Art Plunder in Postwar Western Europe – Oxford University Press, August 2024 I’m late in noticing this, but I’ve just read her previous book, Defending National Treasures: French Art and Heritage Under Vichy (Stanford University … Continue reading →

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Fay Bound-Alberti, The Face: A Cultural History – Allen Lane, February 2026

Posted on February 27, 2026 by stuartelden

Fay Bound-Alberti, The Face: A Cultural History – Allen Lane, February 2026 What’s in a face? The face is the only part of the body where all the senses come together and, over the course of human history, has come … Continue reading →

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Peter C. Grace, The Intelligence Intellectuals: Social Scientists and the Making of the CIA – Georgetown University Press, January 2026

Posted on February 27, 2026 by stuartelden

Peter C. Grace, The Intelligence Intellectuals: Social Scientists and the Making of the CIA – Georgetown University Press, January 2026 The untold story of how America’s brightest academic minds revolutionized intelligence analysis at the CIA In the early days of … Continue reading →

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