Hegel and Resistance - (Bloomsbury Studies in Continental Philosophy) by Bart Zantvoort & Rebecca Comay (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The concept of resistance has always been central to the reception of Hegel's philosophy. The prevalent image of Hegel's system, which continues to influence the scholarship to this day, is that of an absolutist, monist metaphysics which overcomes all resistance, sublating or assimilating all differences into a single organic 'Whole'. For that reason, the reception of Hegel has always been marked by the question of how to resist Hegel: how to think that which remains outside of or other to the totalizing system of dialectics.

In recent years the work of scholars such as Catherine Malabou, Slavoj Zizek, Rebecca Comay and Frank Ruda has brought considerable nuance to this debate. A new reading of Hegel has emerged which challenges the idea that there is no place for difference, otherness or resistance in Hegel, both by refusing to reduce Hegel's complex philosophy to a straightforward systematic narrative and by highlighting particular moments within Hegel's philosophy which seem to counteract the traditional understanding of dialectics.

This book brings together established and new voices in this field in order to show that the notion of resistance is central to this revaluation of Hegel.

Review Quotes

"Hegel and Resistance is a beautifully conceived collection of stellar essays. Its contributions combine an amazing amount of depth and breadth in reassessing the significance of Hegel's philosophy for our times. Hegelian thought is put into dialogue with the history of philosophy, political theory and practice, psychoanalysis, and multiple contemporary debates. Anyone interested in the recent 'return to Hegel' absolutely must engage with Hegel and Resistance. Moreover, I anticipate that, forever after this volume's publication, nobody will be able to discuss Hegel without also discussing resistance-resistances in, to, and of Hegel." --Adrian Johnston, Professor and Chair of Philosophy, University of New Mexico, USA

"Hegel will never be forgiven for authorizing categorial modernity, making it irresistible; but this is the same Hegel for whom the force of the negative formed a resistance to every positivity. The scintillating essays in this volume recover Hegel's contemporaneity, recover his philosophy as the one must fervently to be resisted, as the site of every resistance, as a work in which stasis and resistance are in continual agonistic embrace. Included in the volume are essays by Caygill, Comay, de Boer, Ruda, and Zambrana for which all students of Hegel, which is all of us, will be grateful." --Jay M. Bernstein, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, The New School, USA

About the Author

Rebecca Comay is Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Mourning Sickness: Hegel and the French Revolution (2011), as well as many articles on Hegel, Benjamin and Adorno, psychoanalysis and aesthetics.

Bart Zantvoort is Lecturer at the Institute of Philosophy, Leiden University, the Netherlands. His research focuses on the relation between social change and resistance to change in individuals, institutions and social structures more generally. He has published articles on Hegel, political inertia, Critical Theory and on Quentin Meillassoux.