Progressive Geographies

This happened more than a week ago, but I just noticed it: Amazon.com: Speculative Realism: Problems and Prospects now has the book for sale in the US. For those who can’t stand the very phrase “speculative realism” the book is as much about the Continental turn to realism (Paul Ennis’s phrase) and the new materialisms, and I’m quite delighted (and thankful) for the endorsements, which are not from anyone easily labeled “SR.”

In casual but compelling prose, Gratton’s book brings Speculative Realism into dialogue with various other parts of contemporary philosophy and challenges central aspects of this incipient movement, which includes thinkers like Meillassoux, Brassier and Harman. Both for contextualising Speculative Realism and revealing its temporal fault-lines, Gratton’s book is a must read. Jack Reynolds Associate Professor of Philosophy, Department of Politics, Philosophy and Legal Studies, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

Whatever one thinks of the philosophical merits of speculative…