Ebook: The left hemisphere: mapping critical theory today

As the crisis of capitalism unfolds, the need for alternatives is felt ever more intensely. The struggle between radical movements and the forces of reaction will be merciless. A crucial battlefield, where the outcome of the crisis will in part be decided, is that of theory. Over the last twenty-five years, radical intellectuals across the world have produced important and innovative ideas. The endeavour to transform the world without falling into the catastrophic traps of the past has been a common element uniting these new approaches. -- Publisher description.;The defeat of critical thinking (1977-93) -- A brief history of the 'New Left' (1956-77) -- Contemporary critical intellectuals: a typology -- System. Michael Hardt and Toni Negri, or the 'Joy of Being Communist' ; The revival theories of imperialism : Marxism and imperialism, Leo Panitch, Robert Cox, David Harvey ; The nation-state: persistence or transcendence? : Benedict Arnold and Tom Nairn, Jürgen Habermas and Étienne Balibar, Wang Hui, Giorgio Agamben ; Capitalisms old and new : critique of cognitive capitalism, Robert Brenner, Giovanni Arrighi, Elmar Altvater, Luc Boltanski -- Subjects. Equality as event : Jacques Rancière, Alain Badiou, Slavoj Žižek ; Post-femininities : Donna Haraway, Judith Butler, Gayatri Spivak ; Class against class : E.P. Thompson, David Harvey, Erik Olin Wright, Álvaro García Linera ; Conflictual identities : Nancy Fraser, Axel Honneth, Seyla Benhabib, Achille Mbebe, Ernesto Laclau, Fredric Jameson -- Conclusion : worksites.