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State and Politics: Deleuze and Guattari on Marx (Semiotext
A detailed analysis of how Deleuze and Guattari's work engaged with the upheavals of their time.
Often approached through their "micropolitics of desire," the joint works of Deleuze and Guattari are rarely part of the discussion when classical and contemporary problems of political thought come under scrutiny. Yet if we follow the trajectory from Anti-Oedipus (1972) to A Thousand Plateaus (1980), it becomes clear that these problems were redeveloped during a period of historical transition marked by the end of the wars of decolonization, the transformation of global capitalism, and by recombinations of the forces of collective resistance that were as deep as they were uncertain.
In State and Politics, Guillaume Sibertin-Blanc measures how Deleuze and Guattari engage with the upheavals of their time by confronting their thought with its main interlocutor, Marxism, with its epistemological field (historical materialism), with its critical program (the critique of political economy), and with its political grammar (class struggle). Three new hypotheses emerge from these encounters: the hypothesis of the Urstaat, embodying an excess of sovereign violence over the State apparatus and over its political investments; the hypothesis of a power of the "war machine" that States can only ever appropriate partially, and to which they can be subordinated; and the hypothesis of an excess of "destructivism" in capitalist accumulation over its productive organization.
These three excesses betray the haunting presence of the period between the wars in the political thought of Deleuze and Guattari, but they also allow Deleuze and Guattari's ideas to communicate with contemporary thinkers of the impolitical. The reader discovers not only a new political theory but also the plurality of ways in which extreme violence--violence capable of destroying politics itself--can arise.
Often approached through their "micropolitics of desire," the joint works of Deleuze and Guattari are rarely part of the discussion when classical and contemporary problems of political thought come under scrutiny. Yet if we follow the trajectory from Anti-Oedipus (1972) to A Thousand Plateaus (1980), it becomes clear that these problems were redeveloped during a period of historical transition marked by the end of the wars of decolonization, the transformation of global capitalism, and by recombinations of the forces of collective resistance that were as deep as they were uncertain.
In State and Politics, Guillaume Sibertin-Blanc measures how Deleuze and Guattari engage with the upheavals of their time by confronting their thought with its main interlocutor, Marxism, with its epistemological field (historical materialism), with its critical program (the critique of political economy), and with its political grammar (class struggle). Three new hypotheses emerge from these encounters: the hypothesis of the Urstaat, embodying an excess of sovereign violence over the State apparatus and over its political investments; the hypothesis of a power of the "war machine" that States can only ever appropriate partially, and to which they can be subordinated; and the hypothesis of an excess of "destructivism" in capitalist accumulation over its productive organization.
These three excesses betray the haunting presence of the period between the wars in the political thought of Deleuze and Guattari, but they also allow Deleuze and Guattari's ideas to communicate with contemporary thinkers of the impolitical. The reader discovers not only a new political theory but also the plurality of ways in which extreme violence--violence capable of destroying politics itself--can arise.
- GenresPhilosophyPolitics
312 pages, Paperback
Published June 24, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 1, 2022
MUITO FODA. Um dia queria ser orientando desse cara. Esse livro vai ser crucial para o meu mestrado.
Sibertin-Blanc é sem dúvidas um dos maiores pensadores da política em D&G. Referências incríveis, teses fortíssimas, análises profundas.
Archi-violence se dedica principalmente à máquina territorial primitiva e ao nomadismo, mas faz algo que é impressionante: consegue articular muito bem as continuidades e descontinuidades entre AE e MP enquanto produz uma construção teórica coesa para a série C&E como um todo. A relação entre os mecanismos de antecipação-conjuração do Estado com os aparelhos de captura é brilhante, faz as duas teorias conversarem de modo que a densidade de D&G é descomplicada sem perder seu rigor.
Exo-violence é o meu favorito e o principal para o mestrado: a discussão sobre a teoria da origem do Estado. Caralho, que seção. Não só Sibertin-Blanc consegue analisar essa teoria com uma clareza enorme como desenvolve um diálogo com Clausewitz e Schmitt que dá arrepios de ler. Do caralho.
Endo-violence é muito bom, as análises do capitalismo de D&G alcançam uma dimensão extremamente profunda e seu maior mérito é a discussão sobre o conceito de minoria, extremamente complicado a partir de D&G mas com Sibertin-Blanc conseguimos entender muito bem a relação entre minoria e classe e entre D&G e Marx.
Livraço, recomendo a todos. Para os leitores de D&G e para aqueles que estão começando e querem mais.
Sibertin-Blanc é sem dúvidas um dos maiores pensadores da política em D&G. Referências incríveis, teses fortíssimas, análises profundas.
Archi-violence se dedica principalmente à máquina territorial primitiva e ao nomadismo, mas faz algo que é impressionante: consegue articular muito bem as continuidades e descontinuidades entre AE e MP enquanto produz uma construção teórica coesa para a série C&E como um todo. A relação entre os mecanismos de antecipação-conjuração do Estado com os aparelhos de captura é brilhante, faz as duas teorias conversarem de modo que a densidade de D&G é descomplicada sem perder seu rigor.
Exo-violence é o meu favorito e o principal para o mestrado: a discussão sobre a teoria da origem do Estado. Caralho, que seção. Não só Sibertin-Blanc consegue analisar essa teoria com uma clareza enorme como desenvolve um diálogo com Clausewitz e Schmitt que dá arrepios de ler. Do caralho.
Endo-violence é muito bom, as análises do capitalismo de D&G alcançam uma dimensão extremamente profunda e seu maior mérito é a discussão sobre o conceito de minoria, extremamente complicado a partir de D&G mas com Sibertin-Blanc conseguimos entender muito bem a relação entre minoria e classe e entre D&G e Marx.
Livraço, recomendo a todos. Para os leitores de D&G e para aqueles que estão começando e querem mais.
March 1, 2021
I found this to be a very elucidating explanation of Deleuze & Guattari’s method for and understanding of societies, as well as how they progress through different modes of production, power, and accumulation. I especially enjoyed the portions which focused on the relation between social forms and their limits; the passages were often focused on providing a description of D&G’s stances on the topic (and their relation to others’), which is exactly what I personally needed. The concluding chapter on Becoming-Revolutionary was probably my favorite, as it ties their framework into their practically-applicable politics, specifically in relation to becoming-proletarian.
My main complaint would be the difficulty—but what can I expect from secondary literature on D&G. I annotated the hell out of this book, to the point where it’s shaped less like a rectangular prism, I.e. your average book, and more like some sort of wavy teardrop. I think this is one of those books that you have to come back to once you’ve finished reading it. Embedded within that general issue of difficulty is the trouble I had with grasping the contents of the first section on “archi-violence.” It may have gone over my head if it was actually laid out more systematically than I can remember, but the concept of a “primitive” State violence wasn’t articulated in an incredibly clear manner when compared to the stuff that comes later in the book.
This being said, it was definitely interesting, as most things about D&G are, and I would absolutely recommend it for someone who is looking to understand the political end of ‘Capitalism & Schizophrenia’.
My main complaint would be the difficulty—but what can I expect from secondary literature on D&G. I annotated the hell out of this book, to the point where it’s shaped less like a rectangular prism, I.e. your average book, and more like some sort of wavy teardrop. I think this is one of those books that you have to come back to once you’ve finished reading it. Embedded within that general issue of difficulty is the trouble I had with grasping the contents of the first section on “archi-violence.” It may have gone over my head if it was actually laid out more systematically than I can remember, but the concept of a “primitive” State violence wasn’t articulated in an incredibly clear manner when compared to the stuff that comes later in the book.
This being said, it was definitely interesting, as most things about D&G are, and I would absolutely recommend it for someone who is looking to understand the political end of ‘Capitalism & Schizophrenia’.
November 12, 2025
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- Various excerpts
- Various excerpts
March 13, 2017
I've read lots of secondary literature on D&G, and think this is the best I have encountered. Clearly locates their concepts on a historical field and elaborates both their ideal and concrete aspects. Fantastic.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews