The Militant Historian - by Kerry William Purcell (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This is the first wide-ranging analysis of Alain Badiou's use, development and transformation of the concept of history. Despite the wealth of perspectives now available on how social and cultural practices take shape, historicism still appears to be the most dominant. The Militant Historian examines this primacy and reveals how Badiou's work offers a radical riposte.
Exploring key texts in Badiou's oeuvre and how his philosophical ideas disrupt dominant conceptions of history and the role of the historian, Kerry William Purcell addresses how these ideas could transform our approaches to the historical and what it means to 'do history' as a meaningful endeavour. Adopting a chronological approach to Badiou's work, each chapter explores specific conceptual developments in his writing and how they lend themselves to a reconsideration of the subject who speaks history. From these new and disruptive modes of doing emerges the figure of the militant historian - a role with the potential to impact how we practice history outside the narrow strictures of academic life.

Review Quotes

"Purcell's engaging book calls for a transformation in our understanding of history in the light of Badiou's philosophy of the event. It makes a highly original contribution to the reception of Badiou's work and offers a timely questioning of historiography and the professional activity of historians.'" --Ian James, Professor of Modern French Philosophy and Literature, University of Cambridge, UK

"This is an original and timely study of the concept of history in Alain Badiou's opus. Its meticulous analysis and compelling revalorisation of this crucial, but neglected aspect of his thought is enriched by a wide-ranging consideration of the philosophical and political influences that shaped it." --Damian Catani, Senior Lecturer in French, Birkbeck University, UK

About the Author

Kerry William Purcell is a Senior Lecturer in Design History at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. He specialises in visual cultural theory, and has previously written on the philosophy of history and key figures in the history of visual culture.