
Revolutionary Pessimism
Simone Weil's Antifascist Politics
Scott Ritner(Author)
Stanford University Press
Will be published approx. on 24. November 2026
Book
Hardback
200 pages
978-1-5036-4559-2 (ISBN)
Description
Scott B. Ritner argues that the antifascist philosopher and mystic Simone Weil's critical writings about the social crises of the mid-twentieth century, especially fascism, are particularly instructive for today. Now, as then, liberal democratic capitalist states are under threat from authoritarian leaders and fascist movements. Situating Weil and her work in the tradition of pessimistic critical theory, Ritner reveals how Weil's work can be understood as participating in an ongoing project critique of capitalist and liberal, neoliberal, and fascist modes of domination. This novel interpretation of Weil's work argues for reading her combined anarchist, Marxian, anti-racist, anti-colonial, and Platonic approaches to political thought holistically alongside her mystical Christianity and Judaism as a singular antifascist project in which pessimism is given political prominence. Taking up Weil's critiques of the State, the organization of labor, the use and effects of violence, and the ideology of revolution, Ritner mobilizes Weil's idiosyncratic antifascist politics towards a conceptual framework he calls "revolutionary pessimism" - defined as root-and-branch political action without expectation. As Ritner persuades, the revolutionary pessimism perceivable in Weil's writing can reorient antifascism from a defensive political posture to an offensive posture of generative permanent revolt.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Palo Alto
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-5036-4559-2 (9781503645592)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Scott B. Ritner teaches Political Theory at University of Colorado Boulder. He served as President (2022-2025) and Vice President (2019-2022) of the American Weil Society.