Category Archives: Books

GO: On the Geographies of Gunnar Olsson

Interesting looking (though expensive) collection on the work of Gunnar Olsson – one of geography’s most original voices. Since the early 1960s, the internationally acclaimed and highly distinguished Swedish geographer Gunnar Olsson has made substantial contributions to his own discipline. … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Gunnar Olsson | Leave a comment

Scott Kirsch on State, Space, World

Another detailed review – in Antipode by Scott Kirsch. The whole review appears to be available free. Here’s two paragraphs – the second and the last: Of course, it is not surprising that Lefebvre’s opus on space became the touchstone … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Henri Lefebvre, Neil Brenner | Leave a comment

Originally posted on Path to the Possible:
I recently did a book review of State, Space, World, a collection of Henri Lefebvre’s work edited by Neil Brenner and Stuart Elden (who blogs at Progressive Geographies).  The review is in Social…

Posted in Books, Henri Lefebvre, Neil Brenner | Leave a comment

Eyal Weizman – The Least of All Possible Evils

Out soon Now out with Verso: The principle of the “lesser evil”—the acceptability of pursuing one exceptional course of action in order to prevent a greater injustice—has long been a cornerstone of Western ethical philosophy. From its roots in classical … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Eyal Weizman, Politics | 4 Comments

Foucault – Wrong-Doing, Truth-Telling

University of Chicago Press finally have a page up for the translation of Foucault’s 1981 lectures at Louvain – Wrong-Doing, Truth-Telling. They are due out in January 2013. Three years before his death, Michel Foucault delivered a series of lectures … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Michel Foucault | 2 Comments

John Updike’s 6 Rules for Constructive Criticism

In The Atlantic. While these are intended for reviews of fiction, many apply to the review of academic books. They were written in the 1970s, so perhaps that explains his use of male pronouns alone. Here are the first three – the others, and … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged | Leave a comment

Political Theology and Early Modernity

Interesting looking collection edited by Graham Hammill and Julia Reinhard Lupton, with a postface by Etienne Balibar. Political theology is a distinctly modern problem, one that takes shape in some of the most important theoretical writings of the twentieth and … Continue reading

Posted in Baruch Spinoza, Books, Carl Schmitt, Etienne Balibar, Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, Walter Benjamin, William Shakespeare | Leave a comment

Political Geology: Stratigraphies of Power

I’ll be speaking at a conference on Political Geology: Stratigraphies of Power on 21 June at Lancaster University  – I’ll be giving an abbreviated version of the ‘Fossils’ paper I gave in Canberra and Macau last year. Thanks to Kathryn Yusoff … Continue reading

Posted in Conferences, Elizabeth Grosz, Felix Guattari, Fossils, Gilles Deleuze, The Space of the World | 4 Comments

Contemporary Political Theory review of Terror and Territory

Terror and territory: The spatial extent of sovereignty is reviewed by Jonathan Havercroft here. (It appears to require a subscription; though the journal has announced book reviews are now open access.) It is an overall positive review, though it is critical of … Continue reading

Posted in Terror and Territory | Leave a comment

Improper Life – Timothy Campbell

 Improper Life: Technology and Biopolitics from Heidegger to Agamben – recently out with University of Minnesota Press. The book discusses, between Heidegger and Agamben, Michel Foucault, Roberto Esposito, and Peter Sloterdijk. Campbell is one of the translators of Esposito, and … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Giorgio Agamben, Martin Heidegger, Michel Foucault, Peter Sloterdijk, Roberto Esposito | Leave a comment