Nathan Coombs demonstrates that the Marxist science of history has been reimagined by a strand of contemporary French theory after Louis Althusser. Taking a comparative approach, he explores the technical details of both traditions’ historical sciences. He argues that their articulations of history and event affect how we approach political transformation and view the role of theoreticians in political practice. Coombs establishes the continuities and discontinuities between classical Marxism and Althusserian theory, bringing you new readings of Hegel, Marx, Lenin, Althusser, Badiou, Meillassoux and complexity theory.
Nathan Coombs is Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of Edinburgh.
Preface and AcknowledgementsIntroductionPart I. History and Event in Marxist Dialectics1. Hegel’s Leaps and the Historicist Theory of Knowledge2. Marx’s Idea of Communist Transformation3. Lenin’s Philosophy: A New Dialectics of Revolution?Part II. Events and Historical Judgement after Althusser4. Althusser’s Science: Naming the Epistemological Break5. Badiou’s Decision: To Give Up Leadership, Somewhat6. Meillassoux’s Politics: Speculative JusticePart III. Suggestions about Where this Road Might Take us7. Afterword: Towards a Complex Science of HistoryNotesBibliographyIndex
Madeleine Fagan, University of Warwick) Fagan, Madeleine (Institute of Advanced Studies Global Research Fellow, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick
Madeleine Fagan, University of Warwick) Fagan, Madeleine (Institute of Advanced Studies Global Research Fellow, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick