Jacques Rancière

Oliver Davis is Associate Professor of French Studies and Programme Director of the Centre for Research in Philosophy, Literature and the Arts at the University of Warwick.

• Preface viiAcknowledgements xiii1 The Early Politics: From Pedagogy to Equality 1Althusser's lesson 2Platonic inequality in Marx, Sartre and Bourdieu 15Jacotot and radical equality 252 History and Historiography 36Les Révoltes Logiques (1975–81) 36The Nights of Labor: The Workers' Dream in Nineteenth-Century France [1981] 52The Names of History: On the Poetics of Knowledge [1992] 57Conclusion 723 The Mature Politics: From Policing to Democracy 74Politics and 'the police' 76Rancière's structural account of democracy: the 'wrong' and the miscount 80Political 'subjectivation' 84The aesthetic dimension of politics: the 'division' or 'distribution' of 'the sensory' (le partage du sensible) 90Overall assessment of Rancière's account of politics 924 Literature 101'What is literature?' 102Writing, literarity . . . and literature 107Rancière as reader 1155 Art and Aesthetics 126Aesthetic experience and equality: with Kant and Gauny, against Bourdieu 128The regimes of art 134Film and film theory 138Contemporary art, politics and community 152Afterword 160Notes 162References 191Index 207

"An absolute model of explanatory clarity, with a level of critical distance made all the more impressive by this being the first monograph on Ranciere in any language."French Studies "A solid introduction to Ranciere's thought that should help facilitate the reception of his work in the English-speaking world."Choice "Well written and accessible ... the chapters are clear and capture the full extent of Rancière's thinking, yet they remain remarkably critical."Ethical Perspectives"Davis has thought through how best to introduce Rancière's philosophy and he does it convincingly and compellingly. His book will deservedly become the standard introduction and companion to Rancière for first time readers at every level."Jay Bernstein, New School for Social Research"Oliver Davis's Jacques Rancière is an overview of force and beauty. Working through the whole of Rancière's reflections on philosophy, politics, historiography and aesthetics, Davis offers a clear and coherent account of work that has changed the way we think about the emergence, the condition and the future of democracy."Tom Conley, Harvard University