JACQUES RANCIÈRE
Published 25 January 2010
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?Ranciere?s writings offer one of the few
conceptualizations of how we are to continue to resist.? Slavoj Zizek
?Ranciere is an heir to Foucault.? Alain Badiou
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AUTHOR EVENTS IN LONDON:
3rd February 2010: ICA / Jacques Ranciere in
conversation with Kodwo Eshun, Otolith Group /
For more details and to book click here::
<http://www.ica.org.uk/The%20Image%20in%20Question+23536.twl>http://www.ica.org.uk/The%20Image%20in%20Question+23536.twl
4th February 2010: Whitechapel Gallery / Big
Ideas: Jacques Ranciere in conversation with
Adrian Rifkin and Andrea Phillips / For more
details and to book click here:
<http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/shop/product/category_id/22/product_id/437?session_id=126278107878a96fc6fd05d128adaed940ce9e71eb1>http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/shop/product/category_id/22/product_id/437?session_id=126278107878a96fc6fd05d128adaed940ce9e71eb1
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?Every spectator is already an actor in her
story; every actor, every man of action, is the spectator of the same story.?
A ?68er whose radical ardour remains undimmed,
Jacques Ranciere is one of the most influential
and compelling thinkers of our age in France
since Foucault and Deleuze, lauded by both art
theorists and artists. Now this leading theorist
of the art world returns with the follow-up to
his acclaimed manifesto for contemporary art and
film, THE FUTURE OF THE IMAGE which located art
firmly in relation to politics. Theorists of art
and film commonly depict the modern audience as
passive consumers. In response, both artists and
thinkers have sought to transform the viewer of
art or the spectator into someone involved in
the drama before them ? seeking to ?emancipate?
the spectator and make them politically active.
For example, the influential curator of the Tate
Britain?s recent exhibition ?Altermodern?,
Nicholas Bourriaud, has championed the notion of
a more socially engaged art, where the public
are encouraged to participate in an event or
artwork. We have seen the influence of such
ideas in such projects as Antony Gormley?s ?One
& Other? that took place on the fourth plinth in
Trafalgar Square. Ranciere turns these ideas
over and argues that ?Being a spectator is not
some passive condition that we should transform
into activity. It is our normal situation.? For
Ranciere, there is no privileged starting point
in art but we should reassess the relations
between seeing, doing, speaking: emancipation
means blurring these boundaries. Looking over
the tradition of critical art and what the
desire to insert art into life has achieved,
Ranciere asks, ?has the militant critique of the
consumption of images and commodities has
become, ironically, a sad confirmation of its omnipotence??
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Praise for Jacques Ranciere
?His art lies in the rigor of his argument ? its
careful, precise unfolding ? and at the same
time not treating his reader, whether university
professor or unemployed actress, as an imbecile.? Kristin Ross
?It?s clear that Jacques Ranciere is relighting
the flame that was extinguished for manythat is
why he serves as such a signal reference today.? Thomas Hirschhorn
?In the face of impossible attempts to proceed
with progressive ideas within the terms of
postmodernist discourse, Ranciere shows a way out of the malaise.? Liam Gillick
Praise for HATRED OF DEMOCRACY
?A piercing essay on the definitions and
redefinitions of the term "democracy" ? the
present catastrophe in Iraq provides more than
ample proof of Ranciere's bold assertion that we
need to rethink the relationship between
democracy and power before setting in motion any
more wars in the name of "freedom".? Times Higher Educational Supplement
?This tastily sardonic essay is partly a
scholarly sprint through the history of
political philosophy, and partly a very
enjoyable stream of insults directed at rival penseurs.? Guardian
?Ranciere critiques the political stance in the
west that pours scorn on mass protests and
popular culture at home, yet promotes the spread
of democracy by force throughout the world. ?
But Ranciere eschews polemic in order to show
the confusion in our political discourse. He
challenges what he sees as the widely held view
that democratic life is synonymous with "the
apolitical life of the indifferent consumer".? New Statesman
Praise for THE FUTURE OF THE IMAGE
?A series of gratifyingly knotty and close
discussions of 19th- and 20th-century literature, film and painting? Guardian
?French philosopher Jacques Ranciere is a
refreshing read for anyone concerned with what
art has to do with politics and society.? J.J Charlesworth, Art Review
?What we see here is Ranciere developing a
unique voice as a political theorist.? Bookforum
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Jacques Ranciere is Emeritus Professor of
Philosophy at the University of Paris-VIII. His
books include THE FUTURE OF THE IMAGE, HATRED OF
DEMOCRACY, and ON THE SHORES OF POLITICS (all
from Verso), THE POLITICS OF AESTHETICS,
DISAGREEMENT, THE PHILOSOPHER AND HIS POOR, THE
IGNORANT SCHOOLMASTER,SHORT VOYWAGES TO THE LAND
OF THE PEOPLE and NIGHTS OF LABOR.
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The Emancipated Spectator Author: Jacques
Ranciere / 25 January 2010 / Hardback /
978 1 84467 343 8 /£12.99 / $23.95/144 pages / Hardback
For more information visit
<http://www.versobooks.com/books/nopqrs/r-titles/ranciere_j_emancipated_spectator.shtml>http://www.versobooks.com/books/nopqrs/r-titles/ranciere_j_emancipated_spectator.shtml
To buy the book in the U.K:
<http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781844673438/The-Emancipated-Spectator>http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781844673438/The-Emancipated-Spectator
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Emancipated-Spectator-Jacques-Ranci%C3%A8re/dp/184467343X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264006364&sr=8-1
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<http://www.amazon.com/Emancipated-Spectator-Jacques-Ranci%C3%A8re/dp/184467343X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264000587&sr=8->http://www.amazon.com/Emancipated-Spectator-Jacques-Ranci%C3%A8re/dp/184467343X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264000587&sr=8-
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ALSO OUT NOW:
New in Paperback
HATRED OF DEMOCRACY
Published 7 December 2009
978-1-84467-386-5 / Paperback /$16.95 /£8.99 / 112 pages
In his new book, Jacques Ranciere examines how
the West can no longer simply extol the virtues
of democracy by contrasting it with the horrors
of totalitarianism. As certain governments are
exporting democracy by brute force, and a
reactionary strand in mainstream political
opinion is willing to abandon civil liberties
and destroy collective values of equality,
Ranciere explains how democracygovernment by
allis the principle that de-legitimates any
form of power based on the superiority of those
who govern. Hence the fear, and consequently the
hatred, of democracy amongst the new powers that
be. HATRED OF DEMOCRACY rediscovers the
ever-new and subversive power of the democratic idea.
To buy the book in the U.K:
<http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781844673865/Hatred-of-Democracy>http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781844673865/Hatred-of-Democracy
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hatred-Democracy-Jacques-Ranci%C3%A8re/dp/1844673863/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264006391&sr=1-2
To buy the book in the U.S:
<http://www.amazon.com/Hatred-Democracy-Jacques-Ranci%C3%A8re/dp/1844673863/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264000236&sr=8-1>http://www.amazon.com/Hatred-Democracy-Jacques-Ranci%C3%A8re/dp/1844673863/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264000236&sr=8-1
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New in Paperback
THE FUTURE OF THE IMAGE
Published 23 February 2009
978-1-84467-297-4 / Paperback /$16.95 /£9.99 /152 pages
The leading theorist of the art-world ? the
adjective ?Rancierian? is already in use
?returns with his bestselling manifesto on the
relationship between art and politics, now in paperback.
To buy the book in the U.K.:
<http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781844672974/The-Future-of-the-Image>http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781844672974/The-Future-of-the-Image
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Future-Image-Jacques-Ranciere/dp/1844672972/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264006443&sr=1-1
To buy the book in the U.S:
<http://www.amazon.com/Future-Image-2009-paperback/dp/1844672972/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264000279&sr=1-1>http://www.amazon.com/Future-Image-2009-paperback/dp/1844672972/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264000279&sr=1-1
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