Althusser: The Detour of Theory

Historical Materialism #13

by Gregory Elliott

First published in 1987, Althusser, The Detour of Theory was widely received as the fullest account of its subject to date. Drawing on a wide range of hitherto untranslated material, it examined the political and intellectual contexts of Althusser's 'return to Marx' in the mid-1960s; analysed the novel character of the Marxism developed in his major works; charted their author's subsequent evolution, from his self-criticism to the proclamation of a 'crisis of Marxism'; and concluded with a balance-sheet of Althusser's contribution to historical materialism.
For this second edition, Gregory Elliott has added a substantial postscript in which he surveys the posthumous edition of the French philosopher's work published in the 1990s, from the early writings of the 1940s through to the late texts of the 1980s, relating the unknown Althusser revealed by them to the familiar figure of For Marx and Reading Capital , together with a comprehensive bibliography of Althusser's oeuvre.

Genres: Philosophy, Theory, Nonfiction, Politics

436 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

About 1/2 of the book covers Althusser's relation to the French communist party, Stalin, Mao, and competing philosophers. The other 1/2 covers his philosophy, and it covers it well. Althusser's writing is, in my opinion, unnecessarily polemical, verbose, and rarely as ingenious as his presentation would suggest. Elliott is able to summarize, without losing much neither philosophical force nor consistency, For Marx and Reading Capital, along with placing them in their historical context. Despite being an anti-anti-Althusserian, Elliot reached the same conclusions I did (having read only For Marx, not RC): Althusser's project was mostly a failure, and each time he tried to get off the ground, he leaped into a glaring contradiction (e.g., Marxism is a science, why's that? Because it is!). The only odd part is the final chapter where Elliott spends ample time suggesting that Althusser was more successful than the previous 4 chapters suggest. Basically his defense of Althusser felt a little forced…

Elliott also spends ample detail explaining why Althusser was so averse to humanist readings of Marx; the ones I'm partial to. Also, why Althusser wanted to purge Hegel from all things Marxism. Again, in the end, Althusser's overall project was a failure, but like Rawls, one can't write a paper on Marxism (or in Rawls's case Liberalism), without having to cite the territory erroneously covered by either thinker.

The only redeeming work from Althusser was his essay on Ideology, which still is as forceful today as it was then. Nonetheless, Althusser bent-the-stick too far away from Humanism, and in the end, gave Marxist humanist even more confidence in their antithetical project...

If you want to know who Althusser was, and what he thought, without undergoing the laborious research project that Elliott clearly undertook, read Elliott.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elliott writes that his goal in the book is "to explain, not excuse, Althusser." To this end, I love the way he characterizes his position: "anti-anti-Althusser....whilst not an advocacy, it is an attempt at a redressment of the balance" (xxi). It's not only a clever mission statement, however; Elliott delivers in full, and this book is absolutely deserving of its reputation among Althusser scholars (for whom The Detour of Theory is considered the definitive work on its subject). Elliott pulls no punches when it comes to criticizing Althusser at every step. But nor does he make any bones about the lasting importance and critical brilliance of Althusser.

The book is also famous, of course, for its thorough bibliographies: an insanely thorough list of secondary sources (aka the "References" list, meaning that yes, Elliott really has read--and cites--every one of those books); and a complete (and updated for the second edition!) list of every published work by Louis Althusser, organized and listed by year of first publication! The bibliographies alone are worth the price of admission, and make an invaluable reference for anyone interested in Althusser, his circle, French Marxism, etc. Be warned, however: some of the most interesting items on the list are also the most obscure, and this book has already been the source of a couple treasure hunts for me...

[A L]

An indispensable study, especially the first half.