This book is a critical introduction to contemporary French philosopher
Jacques Rancière. It is the first introduction in any language to cover
all of his major work and offers an accessible presentation and
searching evaluation of his significant contributions to the fields of
politics, pedagogy, history, literature, film theory and aesthetics.
This book traces the emergence of Rancière's thought over the last
forty-five years and situates it in the diverse intellectual contexts in
which it intervenes. Beginning with his egalitarian critique of his
former teacher Louis Althusser, the book tracks the subsequent
elaboration of Rancière's highly original conception of equality. This
approach reveals that a grasp of his early archival and
historiographical work is vital for a full understanding both of his
later politics and his ongoing investigation of art and aesthetics.
Along the way, this book explains and analyses key terms in Rancière's
very distinctive philosophical lexicon, including the 'police' order,
'disagreement', 'political subjectivation', 'literarity', the 'part
which has no part', the 'regimes of art' and 'the distribution of the
sensory'.
This book argues that Rancière's work sets a new standard in
contestatory critique and concludes by reflecting on the philosophical
and policy implications of his singular project.
