Progressive Geographies

The Invention of Prehistory: A Dialogue with Stefanos Geroulanos

They are talking about his new book, The Invention of Prehistory: Empire, Violence, and our Obsession with Human Origins (Liveright, April 2024)

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Stefanos Geroulanos about the history of prehistory. They talk about why studying history is important and why it is not final, the emphasis on the nature of man, why Rousseau and Hobbes’ ideas still persist, human nature and equality, and the impact of Darwin. They also talk about the impact of Marx, Neanderthals, thin veneer, and the instincts, Freud’s contribution, Nazi party, how we continue to understand history, and many more topics. Stefanos Geroulanos is Director of the Remarque Institute and a professor of history at New York University. He has his BA from Princeton and his PhD from Johns Hopkins. From 2015-2017, he was Director of the Center for International Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences at NYU. His research focuses on histories of the concepts that weave together understanding of the human, of time, and of the body. He has written many books, including the most recent book, The Invention of Prehistory: Empire, Violence, and Our Obsession with Human Origins.

The Daily Nous has a short piece about the decline in the number of book reviews at Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR), with some comments about why this might be. Daily Nons will share news of open access book reviews, provided journals alert them.

I’ve noticed too that publishers are now reluctant to send physical copies of books to reviewers. Given that a copy of the book is the only recompense for the work of reviewing, I’ve refused to review a pdf or other e-format. I’ve also tried to avoid reviewing when the review would only be available to journal subscribers. But these seem to be losing battles.

(Update: I should clarify that I do sometimes review for subscriber-only outlets, but in those cases do try to make the review available easily by sharing a link along with contact details so people can ask me for the copy.)

Aaron Clift, Anticommunism in French Society and Politics, 1945-1953 – Oxford University Press, 2023

Anticommunism in French Society and Politics, 1945-1953 evaluates the prevalence of anticommunism among the French population in 1945 to 1953, and examines its causes, character, and consequences through a series of case studies on different segments of French society. These include the scouting movement; family organisations; agricultural associations; middle-class groups; and trade unions and other working-class organisations. Aaron Clift contends that anticommunism was more widespread and deeply rooted than previously believed, and had a substantial impact on national politics and on these social groups and organisations. Furthermore, he argues that the study of anticommunism allows us a deeper understanding of the values they regarded as the most important to defend. 

Although anticommunism was a diverse phenomenon, this work identifies common discourses, including portrayals of communism as a threat to the nation; the colonial empire; the traditional family; private property; religion; the rural world; and Western civilisation. It also highlights common aims (such as the rehabilitation of wartime collaborators) and tactics (such as the invocation of apoliticism). While acknowledging the importance of the Cold War, it rejects the assumption that anticommunism was an American import or foreign to French society and demonstrates links between anticommunism and anti-Americanism. It concludes that anticommunism drew its strength from the connection or even conflation of communism with perceived negative social changes that were seen to threaten traditional French civilisation, interacting with the postwar international and domestic environment and the personal experiences of individual anticommunists.

There is a New Books interview with Michael Vann – thanks to dmf for the link

Peter E. Gordon, A Precarious Happiness: Adorno and the Sources of Normativity – University of Chicago Press, January 2024

A strikingly original account of Theodor Adorno’s work as a critique animated by happiness.

“Gordon’s confidently gripping and persistently subtle interpretation brings a new tone to the debate about Adorno’s negativism.”—Jürgen Habermas
 
Theodor Adorno is often portrayed as a totalizing negativist, a scowling contrarian who looked upon modern society with despair. Peter E. Gordon thinks we have this wrong: if Adorno is uncompromising in his critique, it is because he sees in modernity an unfulfilled possibility of human flourishing. In a damaged world, Gordon argues, all happiness is likewise damaged but not wholly absent. Through a comprehensive rereading of Adorno’s work, A Precarious Happiness recovers Adorno’s commitment to traces of happiness—fragments of the good amid the bad. Ultimately, Gordon argues that social criticism, while exposing falsehoods, must also cast a vision for an unrealized better world.

Update 28 June 2024: Marvin Esler interviews Peter Gordon at the Critical Theory in Context podcast. Thanks to dmf for this link.