"Empire"...is a bold move away from established doctrine. Hardt and
Negri's insistence that there really is a new world is promulgated
with energy and conviction. Especially striking is their
renunciation of the tendency of many writers on globalization to
focus exclusively on the top, leaving the impression that what
happens down below, to ordinary people, follows automatically from
what the great powers do.--Stanley Aronowitz "The Nation "
Globalization's positive side is, intriguingly, a message of a hot
new book. Since it was published last year, "Empire" ...has been
translated into four new languages, with six more on the way...It
is selling briskly on Amazon.com and is impossible to find in
Manhattan bookstores. For 413 pages of dense political
philosophy--whose compass ranges from body piercing to
Machiavelli--that's impressive.--Michael Elliott"Time"
(07/23/2001)
Hailed as the new "Communist Manifesto" on its dust jacket, this
hefty tome may be worthy of such distinction...Hardt and Negri
analyze the multiple processes of globalization...and argue that
the new sovereign, the new order of the globalized world, is a
decentered and deterritorializing apparatus of rule...Though
"Empire" ties together diverse strands of often opaque
structuralist and poststructuralist theory...the writing is
surprisingly clear, accessible, and engaging...Hardt and Negri
write to communicate beyond the claustrophobic redoubts of the
academy...In short, "Empire" is a comprehensive and exciting
analysis of the now reified concept of globalization, offering a
lucid understanding of the political-economic quagmire of our
present and a glimpse into the possible worlds beyond it.--Tom
Roach "Cultural Critique "
How often can it happen that a book is swept off the shelves until
you can't find a copy in New York for love nor money?..."Empire" is
a sweeping history of humanistphilosophy, Marxism and modernity
that propels itself to a grand political conclusion: that we are a
creative and enlightened species, and that our history is that of
humanity's progress towards the seizure of power from those who
exploit it.--Ed Vulliamy"The Observer" (07/15/2001)
In their recent book "Empire"--a highly explosive analysis of
globalisation-[the authors] take the effort to develop a full
narrative of this new world order, of the global postmodern
sovereignty and its counter-currents. It is therefore not so much a
book on hybridity only, but rather an attempt to reformulate and
redefine the political under conditions of globalisation. The
result is a resolute tour de force delineating the genealogy of the
postmodern regime as well as its consolidation as a new "society of
control" under conditions of world-wide "real subsumption" which
creates one smooth, global capitalist terrain.--Dirk Wiemann
"Journal for the Study of British Cultures "
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's "Empire", by contrast, owes its
density not to affected language - indeed, its manifesto - like
communicative urgency is one of its greatest strengths - but to the
exhilarating novelty of what it has to say...This is as simple, as
apparently innocent, and as radically counter-intuitive when
thought to its limit as the Sartrean dictum that existence precedes
essence must have been in its time. It's not that this relation had
never been thought before; the connection between the demands of
labor unions and the development of the automated factory is
well-known. But in Hardt and Negri's hands this relation becomes a
powerful new way to theorize globalization and the development of
capital itself... Hardt and Negri perform the urgent task of
reclaiming Utopia for the multitude.--Nicholas Brown "Symploke
"
One of the rare benefits to the credit [of the contemporary Empire]
is to have undermined the ramparts of the nation, ethnicity, race,
and peoples by multiplying the instances of contact and
hybridization. Perhaps, at least this is the hope forwarded by
these two Marx and Engels of the internet age, it has thus made
possible the coming of new forms of transnational solidarity that
will defeat Empire.--Aude Lancelin "Le Nouvel Observateur "
So what does a disquisition on globalization have to offer scholars
in crisis? First, there is the book's broad sweep and range of
learning. Spanning nearly 500 pages of densely argued history,
philosophy and political theory, it features sections on Imperial
Rome, Haitian slave revolts, the American Constitution and the
Persian Gulf War, and references to dozens of thinkers like
Machiavelli, Spinoza, Hegel, Hobbes, Kant, Marx and Foucault. In
short, the book has the formal trappings of a master theory in the
old European tradition...[This] book is full of...bravura passages.
Whether presenting new concepts--like Empire and multitude--or
urging revolution, it brims with confidence in its ideas. Does it
have the staying power and broad appeal necessary to become the
next master theory? It is too soon to say. But for the moment,
"Empire" is filling a void in the humanities.--Emily Eakin"New York
Times" (07/07/2001)
Stretching back nearly twenty years, Antonio Negri's work has been
until recently one of the best-kept secrets of Marxist theory in
the United States...["Empire"] is the culmination of Negri's
lifework and a major contribution to Marx's uncompleted work on
capitalism's international phase. Beyond its inherent scholarly
merit, however, "Empire" provides a critical tool for understanding
what the events following September 11th mean as history and
politics.--Curtis White"Bookforum" (06/01/2002)
The appearance of "Empire" represents a spectacular break. Michael
Hardt and Antonio Negri defiantly overturn the verdict that the
last two decades have been a time of punitive defeats for the
Left...Hardt and Negri open their case by arguing that, although
nation- state-based systems of power are rapidly unraveling in the
force-fields of world capitalism, globalization cannot be
understood as a simple process of de- regulating markets. Far from
withering away, regulations today proliferate and interlock to form
an acephelous supranational order which the authors choose to call
""Empire"."..bravely upholds the possibility of a utopian manifesto
for these times, in which the desire for another world buried or
scattered in social experience could find an authentic language and
point of concentration.--Gopal Balakrishnan "New Left Review "
The collaboration between American literary theorist and Italian
political philosopher has produced a strange and graceful work, of
rare imaginative drive and richness of intellectual reference.
However counter-intuitive its conclusions, "Empire" is in its own
terms a work of visionary intensity.--Gopul Balakrishnan "New Left
Review "
This sprawling book is filled with original ideas and analyses,
including some well-aimed critiques of postmodernism, dependency
theory, world systems theory, anti-imperialism, and localism-and
there is much more besides to stimulate the reader...this is an
exciting and provocative book whose depth and richness can only be
hinted at in so brief a review.--Frank Ninkovich "Political Science
Quarterly "
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's "Empire," by contrast, owes its
density not to affected language - indeed, its manifesto - like
communicative urgency is one of its greatest strengths - but to the
exhilarating novelty of what it has to say...This is as simple, as
apparently innocent, and as radically counter-intuitive when
thought to its limit as the Sartrean dictum that existence precedes
essence must have been in its time. It's not that this relation had
never been thought before; the connection between the demands of
labor unions and the development of the automated factory is
well-known. But in Hardt and Negri's hands this relation becomes a
powerful new way to theorize globalization and the development of
capital itself... Hardt and Negri perform the urgent task of
reclaiming Utopia for the multitude. -- Nicholas Brown
"Symploke"
"Empire,.".is a bold move away from established doctrine. Hardt and
Negri's insistence that there really is a new world is promulgated
with energy and conviction. Especially striking is their
renunciation of the tendency of many writers on globalization to
focus exclusively on the top, leaving the impression that what
happens down below, to ordinary people, follows automatically from
what the great powers do. -- Stanley Aronowitz "The Nation"
Hardt is not just bent on saving the world. He has also been
credited with dragging the humanities in American universities out
of the doldrums...["Empire"] presents a philosophical vision that
some have greeted as the 'next big thing' in the field of the
humanities, with its authors the natural successors of names such
as Claude Levi-Strauss, Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault.
A sweeping neo-Marxist vision of the coming world order. The
authors argue that globalization is not eroding sovereignty but
transforming it into a system of diffuse national and supranational
institutions--in other words, a new 'empire'...[that] encompasses
all of modern life.
Empire ...is a bold move away from established doctrine. Hardt and
Negri's insistence that there really is a new world is promulgated
with energy and conviction. Especially striking is their
renunciation of the tendency of many writers on globalization to
focus exclusively on the top, leaving the impression that what
happens down below, to ordinary people, follows automatically from
what the great powers do.
Hailed as the new Communist Manifesto on its dust jacket, this
hefty tome may be worthy of such distinction...Hardt and Negri
analyze the multiple processes of globalization...and argue that
the new sovereign, the new order of the globalized world, is a
decentered and deterritorializing apparatus of rule...Though Empire
ties together diverse strands of often opaque structuralist and
poststructuralist theory...the writing is surprisingly clear,
accessible, and engaging...Hardt and Negri write to communicate
beyond the claustrophobic redoubts of the academy...In short,
Empire is a comprehensive and exciting analysis of the now reified
concept of globalization, offering a lucid understanding of the
political-economic quagmire of our present and a glimpse into the
possible worlds beyond it.
In their recent book Empire --a highly explosive analysis of
globalisation-[the authors] take the effort to develop a full
narrative of this new world order, of the global postmodern
sovereignty and its counter-currents. It is therefore not so much a
book on hybridity only, but rather an attempt to reformulate and
redefine the political under conditions of globalisation. The
result is a resolute tour de force delineating the genealogy of the
postmodern regime as well as its consolidation as a new "society of
control" under conditions of world-wide "real subsumption" which
creates one smooth, global capitalist terrain.
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's Empire, by contrast, owes its
density not to affected language ? indeed, its manifesto ? like
communicative urgency is one of its greatest strengths ? but to the
exhilarating novelty of what it has to say ... This is as simple,
as apparently innocent, and as radically counter-intuitive when
thought to its limit as the Sartrean dictum that existence precedes
essence must have been in its time. It's not that this relation had
never been thought before; the connection between the demands of
labor unions and the development of the automated factory is
well-known. But in Hardt and Negri's hands this relation becomes a
powerful new way to theorize globalization and the development of
capital itself ... Hardt and Negri perform the urgent task of
reclaiming Utopia for the multitude.
The appearance of Empire represents a spectacular break. Michael
Hardt and Antonio Negri defiantly overturn the verdict that the
last two decades have been a time of punitive defeats for the Left
... Hardt and Negri open their case by arguing that, although
nation- state-based systems of power are rapidly unraveling in the
force-fields of world capitalism, globalization cannot be
understood as a simple process of de- regulating markets. Far from
withering away, regulations today proliferate and interlock to form
an acephelous supranational order which the authors choose to call
" Empire " ... bravely upholds the possibility of a utopian
manifesto for these times, in which the desire for another world
buried or scattered in social experience could find an authentic
language and point of concentration.
"Empire..".is a bold move away from established doctrine. Hardt and
Negri's insistence that there really is a new world is promulgated
with energy and conviction. Especially striking is their
renunciation of the tendency of many writers on globalization to
focus exclusively on the top, leaving the impression that what
happens down below, to ordinary people, follows automatically from
what the great powers do. -- Stanley Aronowitz "The Nation"
Hardt, an assistant professor of literature and a political
scientist (and currently a prison inmate), has produced one of the
most comprehensive theoretical efforts to understand globalization.
Choice
One of the rare benefits to the credit Ýof the contemporary Empire¨
is to have undermined the ramparts of the nation, ethnicity, race,
and peoples by multiplying the instances of contact and
hybridization. Perhaps, at least this is the hope forwarded by
these two Marx and Engels of the internet age, it has thus made
possible the coming of new forms of transnational solidarity that
will defeat Empire. -- Aude Lancelin "Le Nouvel Observateur"
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