Table of Contents

Preface vii

Acknowledgements xiii

1 The Early Politics: From Pedagogy to Equality 1

Althusser's lesson 2

Platonic inequality in Marx, Sartre and Bourdieu 15

Jacotot and radical equality 25

2 History and Historiography 36

Les Révoltes Logiques (1975–81) 36

The Nights of Labor: The Workers' Dream in Nineteenth-Century France [1981] 52

The Names of History: On the Poetics of Knowledge [1992] 57

Conclusion 72

3 The Mature Politics: From Policing to Democracy 74

Politics and 'the police' 76

Rancière's structural account of democracy: the 'wrong' and the miscount 80

Political 'subjectivation' 84

The aesthetic dimension of politics: the 'division' or 'distribution' of 'the sensory' (le partage du sensible) 90

Overall assessment of Rancière's account of politics 92

4 Literature 101

'What is literature?' 102

Writing, literarity . . . and literature 107

Rancière as reader 115

5 Art and Aesthetics 126

Aesthetic experience and equality: with Kant and Gauny, against Bourdieu 128

The regimes of art 134

Film and film theory 138

Contemporary art, politics and community 152

Afterword 160

Notes 162

References 191

Index 207

About the Author

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.

Reviews

"An absolute model of explanatory clarity, with a level of criticaldistance made all the more impressive by this being the firstmonograph on Ranciere in any language." French Studies "A solid introduction to Ranciere's thought that should helpfacilitate the reception of his work in the English-speakingworld." Choice "Well written and accessible ... the chapters are clear andcapture the full extent of Ranciere's thinking, yet theyremain remarkably critical." Ethical Perspectives "Davis has thought through how best to introduce Ranciere'sphilosophy and he does it convincingly and compellingly. His bookwill deservedly become the standard introduction and companion toRanciere for first time readers at every level." Jay Bernstein, New School for Social Research "Oliver Davis's Jacques Ranciere is an overview offorce and beauty. Working through the whole of Ranciere'sreflections on philosophy, politics, historiography and aesthetics,Davis offers a clear and coherent account of work that has changedthe way we think about the emergence, the condition and the futureof democracy." Tom Conley, Harvard University