The Mediocracy
French Philosophy Since the Mid-1970s
Published on 17. November 2002
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-85984-430-4 (ISBN)
Description
Generating great controversy on its publication in France, The Mediocracy argues that a veritable counter-revolution in intellectual life has seen the period of the 'master thinkers' of the 1960s succeeded by an era of generalized mediocrity. Where Althusser or Lacan, Foucault or Derrida once held centre stage, today restorationist currents prevail in academia and on television. Fuelled by a complaisant media, contemporary French ideology seeks neither to interpret nor change the world, but is instead content to legitimise a globally hegemonic neo-liberalism.
Reviews / Votes
Serious students and professors of French history and culture between 1968 and 1998 will find this book fascinating ... It effectively recreates the intense intellectual atmosphere of Paris during the 30 years following the 'events' of 1968. Lecourt, a former student of Louis Althusser, draws on a rich tapestry of books, newspaper columns, magazine articles, TV broadcasts, and university lectures. * Choice * Dominique Lecourt ... [is] rightly concerned with the present state of French intellectual life, and fearful for its future. * Radical Philosophy * Without a doubt, Lecourt's observations on the French philosophical scene will appeal to fans and specialists eager for a glimpse of when 'Derrida was not yet Derrida', of mysterious Guy Debord and his 'Situationist' admirers, and tidbits from the 'battle of petitions' that once defined political struggle among French intellectuals. His insistence, against the French team of Luc Ferry and Alain Renault, that the protests of May '68 comprised quite diverse ideological elements and not just an 'anti-humanist' rigidity, deserves consideration. * Philadelphia Inquirer *More details
Edition
Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 183 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
268 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-85984-430-4 (9781859844304)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Book
03/2001
Verso Books
€42.32
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Dominique Lecourt was a pupil of Louis Althusser and Jacques Derrida at the Ecole Normal Superieure in the 1960s. Now Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris VII, his publications in English include Marxism and Epistemology and Proletarian Science?
Gregory Elliott is a member of the editorial collective of Radical Philosophy and author of Althusser: The Detour of Theory and Labourism and the English Genius: The Strange Decay of Labour England?.
Gregory Elliott is a member of the editorial collective of Radical Philosophy and author of Althusser: The Detour of Theory and Labourism and the English Genius: The Strange Decay of Labour England?.