Author Archives: stuartelden

Foucault and his Critics – two minor notes on his exchanges with Jacques Derrida and J.M. Pelorson

Posted on February 8, 2026 by stuartelden

Two small things I’ve found or noticed recently which shed a little light on Foucault’s engagement with his critics. 1. Jacques Derrida I have discussed the Derrida-Foucault debate about Foucault’s History of Madness before, most fully in The Archaeology of Foucault (pp. 16-21). I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Sunday Histories, The Archaeology of Foucault | 4 Comments

Patricia Daley and Ian Klinke, Human Geography: A Very Short Introduction – Oxford University Press, November 2025 and New Books discussion

Posted on February 7, 2026 by stuartelden

Patricia Daley and Ian Klinke, Human Geography: A Very Short Introduction – Oxford University Press, November 2025 I’ve shared the book details before. There is now a New Books discussion with Caleb Zakarin – thanks to dmf for the link. … Continue reading →

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Brahim El Guabli, Desert Imaginations: A History of Saharanism and Its Radical Consequences – University of California Press, November 2025 and New Books discussion

Posted on February 6, 2026 by stuartelden

Brahim El Guabli, Desert Imaginations: A History of Saharanism and Its Radical Consequences – University of California Press, November 2025 New Books discussion with Ibrahim Fawzy – thanks to dmf for the links Desert Imaginations traces the cultural and intellectual histories that … Continue reading →

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Lasse Thomassen, Derrida, Deconstruction and Political Theory – Edinburgh University Press, January 2026

Posted on February 5, 2026 by stuartelden

Lasse Thomassen, Derrida, Deconstruction and Political Theory – Edinburgh University Press, January 2026

Posted in Jacques Derrida, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Interview – Shirin M. Rai

Posted on February 4, 2026 by stuartelden

Interview – Shirin M. Rai at E-IR Shirin M. Rai is Distinguished Research Professor, Department of Politics and International Studies, SOAS, University of London. She is a Fellow of the British Academy. Rai’s research interests lie in feminist international political … Continue reading →

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Omer Aijazi, Atmospheric Violence: Disaster and Repair in Kashmir – University of Pennsylvania Press, June 2024

Posted on February 4, 2026 by stuartelden

Omer Aijazi, Atmospheric Violence: Disaster and Repair in Kashmir – University of Pennsylvania Press, June 2024 Atmospheric Violence grapples with the afterlife of environmental disasters and armed conflict and examines how people attempt to flourish despite and alongside continuing violence. Departing … Continue reading →

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Matthew Perkins-McVey, Intoxicated Ways of Knowing: The Untold Story of Intoxicants and the Biological Subject in Nineteenth-Century Germany – University of Chicago Press, February 2026

Posted on February 3, 2026 by stuartelden

Matthew Perkins-McVey, Intoxicated Ways of Knowing: The Untold Story of Intoxicants and the Biological Subject in Nineteenth-Century Germany – University of Chicago Press, February 2026 Argues that intoxication was fundamental to German physiological, psychological, and psychiatric research during the nineteenth century. Intoxicating … Continue reading →

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Nick Srnicek, Silicon Empires: The Fight for the Future of AI – Polity, October 2025

Posted on February 2, 2026 by stuartelden

Nick Srnicek, Silicon Empires: The Fight for the Future of AI – Polity, October 2025 Since the emergence of ChatGPT, generative AI has been heralded as a technology poised to revolutionize our world. But beyond the hype and hyperbole, who … Continue reading →

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Roland Barthes’s Seminar on the Metaphor of the Labyrinth, and the presentations by Marcel Detienne, Gilles Deleuze and Pierre Rosenstiehl

Posted on February 1, 2026 by stuartelden

In 1978-79 Roland Barthes held a seminar at the Collège de France on “The Metaphor of the Labyrinth”. It was another spatial theme, after his discussion of territory and territoriality in Comment Vivre Ensemble/How to Live Together the previous year, which I … Continue reading →

Posted in Gilles Deleuze, Marcel Detienne, Roland Barthes, Sunday Histories | 5 Comments

Sara B. Pritchard, Transforming Night: The History and Science of Light Pollution – University of Washington Press, July 2026

Posted on January 31, 2026 by stuartelden

Sara B. Pritchard, Transforming Night: The History and Science of Light Pollution – University of Washington Press, July 2026 Darkness has become legible—and contested. Blending archival narrative with on-the-ground ethnography, Sara B. Pritchard traces how four fields—astronomy, remote sensing, conservation science, … Continue reading →

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