Chroniques des temps consensuels

by Jacques Rancière

Le consensus ne signifie pas la pacification des esprits et des corps. Nouveau racisme et épurations ethniques, guerres humanitaires et guerre à la terreur sont au cœur des temps consensuels; les fictions cinématographiques de la guerre totale et du mal radical ou les polémiques intellectuelles sur l'interprétation du génocide nazi figurent aussi en bonne place dans ce livre. Le consensus n'est pas la paix. Il est une carte des opérations de guerre, une topographie du visible, du pensable et du possible où loger guerre et paix. Il est aussi un usage du temps qui lui confie mille tours: diagnostic incessant du présent et politiques de l'amnésie, adieux au passé, commémorations, devoir de mémoire, explications des raisons pour lesquelles le passé refuse de passer, répudiation des avenirs qui prétendaient chanter, exaltation du siècle nouveau et des utopies nouvelles. Ces tours et détours vont vers un même but: montrer qu'il n'y a qu'une seule réalité à laquelle nous sommes tenus de consentir. Ce qui s'oppose à cette entreprise a un nom simple. Cela s'appelle la politique. Ces chroniques voudraient contribuer à rouvrir l'espace qui la rend pensable. J.R.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Art

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Jacques Rancière (born Algiers, 1940) is a French philosopher and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris (St. Denis) who came to prominence when he co-authored Reading Capital (1968), with the Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser.

Rancière contributed to the influential volume Reading "Capital" (though his contribution is not contained in the partial English translation) before publicly breaking with Althusser over his attitude toward the May 1968 student uprising in Paris.
Since then, Rancière has departed from the path set by his teacher and published a series of works probing the concepts that make up our understanding of political discourse. What is ideology? What is the proletariat? Is there a working class? And how do these masses of workers that thinkers like Althusser referred to continuously enter into a relationship with knowledge? We talk about them but what do we know? An example of this line of thinking is Rancière's book entitled Le philosophe et ses pauvres (The Philosopher and His Poor, 1983), a book about the role of the poor in the intellectual lives of philosophers.

Most recently Rancière has written on the topic of human rights and specifically the role of international human rights organizations in asserting the authority to determine which groups of people — again the problem of masses — justify human rights interventions, and even war.

In 2006, it was reported that Rancière's aesthetic theory had become a point of reference in the visual arts, and Rancière has lectured at such art world events as the Freize Art Fair. Former French presidential candidate Ségolène Royal has cited Rancière as her favourite philosopher.

Reviews

[Wakinglife]

"Sınırsız adalet" kısa bir süre önce, o zamana kadar adaleti sınırlayan tüm bu ayrımların yok oluşunu kutsayan isim olmuştu: Şahsi intikam ve kamusal yaptırım, savaş ve polis operasyonu, politika, hukuk, ahlak ve din, iyiliğin kötülüğe karşı sonsuz savaşında aynı şekilde yutulup gitmişlerdi. Gücün belirsizliği, artık kendi saltanatını zamansal farklılıkların ortadan kaldırılmasıyla, öncenin ve sonranın neden ve sonuçtan ya da araç ve amaçtan artık ayırt edilemediği, kesintiye uğramayan şimdiki zamanın saltanatına genişletmektedir. Evvelce gücün kendini meşrulaştırmak için gereken gerçekleri ve argümanları her zaman bulduğu söylenirdi. Bugün aşırı gücün yayılmasına eşlik eden, daha ziyade gerçeklerin unutulması ve muhakemenin sonuna varmanın imkansızlığıdır. Bunun nedeni sadece, bunların gücün isteklerine daha iyi hizmet etmesi değildir. Belki de daha radikal anlamda ne istediğini artık hatırlamamak ve hatırlayabileceği zamanı da yok etmek sınırsız güce mahsustur.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

These writings are Ranciere at the best I've come across by him.