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A review by piccoline
Metapolitics by Alain Badiou
4.0
Some of this is heavy going in terms of the language. It's a lot denser than Badiou's _Ethics_, but it's definitely an interesting extension of his thinking into what should be done. I've been trying to think about What Should Be, lately, feeling overwhelmed by how much is unjust in this world.
One of my favorite things about Badiou's approach is this: a political event can be recognized as that which allows those who were not counted to count. A good first exercise: think back through history and think about which various groups were made up of individuals that were not counted. If you think that now everyone counts, you are not paying attention. Thus: we still have political work to do. Note also: for Badiou, a political event stands at a remove from the State, since the State fails, always, to be about virtues in favor of being about rights or rules (and thus in the end often about preserving property).
Well, I suppose I won't be able to summarize him here. A provocative read, indeed.
One of my favorite things about Badiou's approach is this: a political event can be recognized as that which allows those who were not counted to count. A good first exercise: think back through history and think about which various groups were made up of individuals that were not counted. If you think that now everyone counts, you are not paying attention. Thus: we still have political work to do. Note also: for Badiou, a political event stands at a remove from the State, since the State fails, always, to be about virtues in favor of being about rights or rules (and thus in the end often about preserving property).
Well, I suppose I won't be able to summarize him here. A provocative read, indeed.