Critical Theory at a Crossroads

Stijn De Cauwer is a postdoctoral researcher in cultural studies and literary studies at the University of Leuven in Belgium. He is the author of A Diagnosis of Modern Life: Robert Musil’s Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften as a Critical-Utopian Project (2014).

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Resistance in a Time of Crisis, by Stijn De Cauwer1. A Critical Europe Can Do It! Interview with Rosi Braidotti. Interview conducted by Joost de Bloois2. We Should be Modest, When It Comes to the Designation of the Possible Subjects of a New Politics: Interview with Jacques Rancière. Interview conducted and translated by Stijn De Cauwer and Gert-Jan Meyntjens3. The History of the Notion of Crisis: Interview with Joseph Vogl. Interview conducted and translated by Sven Fabré and Arne Vanraes4. Neoliberalism Against the Promise of Modernity: Interview with Wendy Brown. Interview conducted by Joost de Bloois5. The European Union Is a Cage: Interview with Antonio Negri. Interview conducted and translated by Stijn De Cauwer and Gert-Jan Meyntjens6. We Need to Have a Clear Alternative: Interview with Tariq Ali. Interview conducted by Stijn De Cauwer7. Finance Is an Extractive Sector: Interview with Saskia Sassen. Interview conducted by Tim Christiaens and Massimiliano Simons8. How to Think a War Machine?: Interview with Maurizio Lazzarato. Interview conducted by Tim Christiaens and Stijn De Cauwer. Translated by Tim Christiaens9. The Creativity Dispositive: Labor Reform by Stealth: Interview with Angela McRobbie. Interview conducted by Stijn De Cauwer, Gert-Jan Meyntjens, and Heidi Peeters10. The Idea of Crisis: Interview with Jean-Luc Nancy. Interview conducted and translated by Erik Meganck and Evelien Van Beeck11. Terror and the Rejection of Sense: Interview with Jean-Luc Nancy. Interview conducted and translated by Erik Meganck and Evelien Van Beeck12. Community in Crisis: A Letter Exchange Between Zygmunt Bauman and Roberto Esposito. Translated by Jolien PaelemanList of ContributorsIndex

The benefits of this collection of interviews are many: an introduction to the thought of some leading critical intellectuals, a compendium of the terms and questions most pressing in contemporary theory, a confrontation with the political challenges of the present moment, and more. If you want an answer to 'what is to be done?' you won’t find it here. But you will encounter the work of thought necessary for ideas capable of turning current crises into emancipatory possibilities.