The Age of Violence: The Crisis of Political Action and the End of Utopia

by Alain Bertho

Exploring the fury of the young in a world or crisis that seems to offer no alternatives"Only martyrs know neither pity nor fear. Believe me, the day when the martyrs are victorious will be the day of universal conflagration". Jacques Lacan made this gloomy prophesy back in 1959: but doesn't it also apply to our own time? Faced with a rise in attacks around the world, can we really just blame the 'radicalization of' Islam'? What hope is there for the alienated youth, as the wars that have ravaged the Middle East spill out across the globe?For Alain Bertho, the mounting chaos we see today is above all driven by the weakening of states' legitimacy under the pressure of globalization. Add to this the hypocrisy of the elites who beat the drum of 'security measures', even as they sow the seeds of violence around the world. This disorder is the swamp of despair which can only produce fresh atrocities.Today's youth are the lost children of neoliberal globalization, the inheritors of the political and human chaos it produces. When they find it easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism, their revolt tends to take the paths of martyrdom and despair. The closing of the revolutionary hypothesis allows only fury. The answer, Bertho argues, is a new radicalism, able to inspire a collective hope in the future.

Genres: Philosophy

144 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2018

About the author

Alain Bertho is an anthropologist who teaches at the University of Paris 8. He works particularly on urban mobilisations and riots across the world. His previous books include L’État de guerre, Nous-autres, nous-mêmes: ethnographie politique du présent and Le temps des émeutes.

Reviews

[stella · Rating 1 out of 5]

a regurgitation of previous works. did not tell a story. written for academics rather than the public, although an alternative take and style of writing would’ve been useful for the public. also i didn’t love the central thesis. it ignores the movements that youth have lead that HAVE fostered change and were not necessarily radical. to reduce us to a generation of despair and radicalism is not accurate (but maybe im not understanding the author’s point). it just felt like the author wanted a space to write down information on the subject

[sawyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

possibly a 2.5 ☆
I think that this books size and overall content aims more to a general audience rather than that of academics (which there is nothing wrong with that). This book is a great 'scrapbook' of different works that is overall educational, just not what i was looking for when reading it. Although, it is a great read for this day and age

[kārlis · Rating 1 out of 5]

rehashing stuff already published by other people elsewhere.