Category Archives: People

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

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

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

Books received – Nietzsche, Eco, Todorov, Zurn, Serres, Wheatland, Jakobson

Posted on January 28, 2026 by stuartelden

Mostly in recompense for review work for De Gruyter – the two expensive Jakobson volumes; for University of Minnesota Press – Michel Serres, Hermes I: Communication; Thomas Wheatland, The Frankfurt School in Exile; and Perry Zurn, Curiosity and Power: The … Continue reading →

Posted in Friedrich Nietzsche, Michel Serres, Roman Jakobson, Umberto Eco | 1 Comment

Peter Johnson, Philosophy for a Time of Crisis: Michel Serres and Climate Change – independently published, January 2026

Posted on January 26, 2026 by stuartelden

Peter Johnson, Philosophy for a Time of Crisis: Michel Serres and Climate Change – independently published, January 2026 Update: the ebook is free on Amazon from 18 May to 22 May 2026

Posted in Uncategorized, Michel Serres | Leave a comment

Roland Barthes and the Question of Territory – Animals, Spaces and Sound

Posted on January 25, 2026 by stuartelden

Roland Barthes only taught at the Collège de France for a short period, from the 1976-77 academic year until shortly before his premature death in early 1980. I was drawn to his lecture courses there for my current work because he sometimes … Continue reading →

Posted in André Leroi-Gourhan, Boundaries, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Emile Benveniste, Felix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze, Jacques Lacan, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Music, Noam Chomsky, Roland Barthes, Roman Jakobson, Sunday Histories, Territory, Theory | 2 Comments

Chris O’Kane, Social Constitution and Fetishistic Social Domination in Marx, Lukács, Adorno, and Lefebvre – Brill, March 2026

Posted on January 23, 2026 by stuartelden

Chris O’Kane, Social Constitution and Fetishistic Social Domination in Marx, Lukács, Adorno, and Lefebvre – Brill, March 2026 The Marxian theory of fetishism is usually interpreted as a theory of false consciousness, alienation, or reification pertaining to commodities or culture. … Continue reading →

Posted in Georg Lukács, Henri Lefebvre, Karl Marx, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Books received – Kristeva, Ryback, Sergent, Ruwet, Deleuze, Serres, Burrin

Posted on January 19, 2026 by stuartelden

Mostly bought second-hand, but including Michel Serres, Hermes III, sent by University of Minnesota Press, and Gilles Deleuze, Sur les lignes de vie. The one without a clear title on the spine is Jean-Claude Ruwet, Introduction to Ethology: The Biology … Continue reading →

Posted in Gilles Deleuze, Julia Kristeva, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Michel Serres | Leave a comment

Mircea Eliade on alchemy; Marie-Madeleine Davy on mysticism and symbolism

Posted on January 18, 2026 by stuartelden

Among many other topics, the Romanian historian of religion Mircea Eliade wrote about alchemy. His 1937 book Cosmologie Şi Alchimie Babiloniană was translated into French as Cosmologie et alchimie babyloniennes, but only in 1991. A substantial part of this text appeared in English … Continue reading →

Posted in Marie-Madeleine Davy, Mircea Eliade, Simone Weil, Sunday Histories | 2 Comments

Alain Badiou, A Political Life: 1937-1985 – trans. Robin Mackay, Polity, November 2025

Posted on January 16, 2026 by stuartelden

Alain Badiou, A Political Life: 1937-1985 – trans. Robin Mackay, Polity, November 2025 In this book, the renowned philosopher and polymath Alain Badiou tells the story of the first five decades of his life, from 1937 to 1985, setting it … Continue reading →

Posted in Alain Badiou, Uncategorized | Leave a comment