Author Archives: stuartelden

Daniele Lorenzini ed. The Foucauldian Mind – Routledge, August 2026

Posted on February 23, 2026 by stuartelden

Daniele Lorenzini ed. The Foucauldian Mind – Routledge, August 2026 This is a major, and very expensive, reference work. I say a bit about my chapter, on Foucault and structuralism, here. The Routledge website says July, but Daniele says the … Continue reading →

Posted in Michel Foucault | 2 Comments

Antonio Melechi, The Unconscious: A Cultural History from Hippocrates to Philip K. Dick and Beyond – MIT Press, February 2026

Posted on February 23, 2026 by stuartelden

Antonio Melechi, The Unconscious: A Cultural History from Hippocrates to Philip K. Dick and Beyond – MIT Press, February 2026 A highly original first anthology on the cultural history of the unconscious that is destined to become definitive. “Know thyself”—the … Continue reading →

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The French contributors to Herman Hirt’s 1936 Festschrift – Linguistics, Nationalism and Nazism

Posted on February 22, 2026 by stuartelden

In their important piece examining the stakes of the 1930s debate about Caucasian linguistics between Georges Dumézil and Prince Nikolai Trubetzkoy, Stefanos Geroulanos and Jamie Philips indicate that Dumézil was one of the contributors to a 1936 Festschrift for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Antoine Meillet, Emile Benveniste, Georges Dumézil, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Stefanos Geroulanos, Sunday Histories | 1 Comment

Rosemary Lévy-Zumwalt, Franz Boas: The Emergence of the Anthropologist and Franz Boas: Shaping Anthropology and Fostering Social Justice – University of Nebraska Press, 2019 and 2022

Posted on February 21, 2026 by stuartelden

I’ve mentioned these before, but on Boas, see also Rosemary Lévy-Zumwalt’s two-volume biography, Franz Boas: The Emergence of the Anthropologist and Franz Boas: Shaping Anthropology and Fostering Social Justice, University of Nebraska Press, 2019 and 2022 

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Noga Arikha, Franz Boas: In Praise of Open Minds – Yale University Press, July 2025

Posted on February 21, 2026 by stuartelden

Noga Arikha, Franz Boas: In Praise of Open Minds – Yale University Press, July 2025 A thought-provoking account of the life and work of Franz Boas and his influential role in shaping modern anthropology Franz Boas (1858–1942) is widely acknowledged for … Continue reading →

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D. Vance Smith, Atlas’s Bones: The African Foundations of Europe – University of Chicago Press, December 2025

Posted on February 20, 2026 by stuartelden

D. Vance Smith, Atlas’s Bones: The African Foundations of Europe – University of Chicago Press, December 2025 There is an excerpt here A major new look at Africa’s influence on European culture and how colonization remade Africa in the image … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Balázs Trencsényi, Intellectuals and the Crisis of Politics in the Interwar Period and Beyond: A Transnational History – Oxford University Press, March 2025

Posted on February 19, 2026 by stuartelden

Balázs Trencsényi, Intellectuals and the Crisis of Politics in the Interwar Period and Beyond: A Transnational History – Oxford University Press, March 2025 This volume offers a broad-ranging and comprehensive analysis of the history and theory of the political idea … Continue reading →

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Trevor Pateman on Barthes as a teacher, and attending classes by Foucault, Derrida, Lévi-Strauss and Jakobson

Posted on February 18, 2026 by stuartelden

A very interesting short piece about spending the 1971-72 academic year in Paris – Trevor Pateman, “Roland Barthes: Writer, Intellectual, and also Professor”, Barthes Studies, 2025 (open access). It briefly mentions Foucault: But Barthes’ preferences were very similar to Foucault’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Claude Lévi-Strauss, Jacques Derrida, Jacques Lacan, Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes, Roman Jakobson | Leave a comment

Foucault’s 17 May 1979 Collège de France seminar with Paul Veyne published

Posted on February 17, 2026 by stuartelden

“Séminaire de Michel Foucault du 17 mai 1979 au Collège de France“, Raisons politiques 100, 2025, 15-52 This is very interesting – a seminar discussing Paul Veyne’s “Foucault révolutionne l’histoire”. A presentation by Veyne, response by Foucault and contributions by … Continue reading →

Posted in Michel Foucault, Paul Veyne, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Sarah Punathil ed. Lines and Passages: Reimagining Migration and Borderlands in South Asia, Routledge, March 2026

Posted on February 16, 2026 by stuartelden

Sarah Punathil ed. Lines and Passages: Reimagining Migration and Borderlands in South Asia, Routledge, March 2026 Moving beyond the conventional binary logic of state and society, this book reveals how borderlands emerge as both contested and negotiated terrains shaped by historical … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments