Philosophy and Resistance in the Crisis

Costas Douzinas is Professor of Law at Birkbeck, University of London, and Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities.

"Douzinas stands among the handful of academics who have seen a duty to use both their position and analytical skills to convey the message of resistance to an international audience. He cannot be commended enough."Antipode"Douzinas' writings form an exciting entry point into the critical theories that are coming to grips with the age we live in. By asking if another world is possible, Douzinas presents some hope that the rebellion against austerity is perhaps a sign of a more democratic and equitable Europe to come."LSE Review of Books"Solidarity with the hardships imposed on the Greek people by the agents of the financial capital is not enough - one has to start THINKING about Greece today. This is what Costas Douzinas does in Philosophy and Resistance in the Crisis - he treats Greece as a symptom of what is wrong in today's global capitalism, and as a lesson in how the people should resist the fate imposed on them by global capitalism. This is not a book about the exotic case of Greece - it is a book about all of us, which is why we all should also read it!"Slavoj Zizek"In a passionate revival of the classical concept of fearless speech, Douzinas offers a cri de coeur for intellectual engagement and ethical responsibility in the face of the Eurozone crisis. Counterposing Greek philosophy to the Greek statistics of the money managers he makes an urbane argument for rethinking the concept of Europe at the site of its original inception."Peter Goodrich, Cardozo School of Law, New York"Read this book. Douzinas opens a new terrain for critical theory, a much needed terrain in theses times of new insurgencies across the world. Beautifully written and carefully argued Douzinas offers us a profound rethinking of major concepts of critical theory as we now confront a new era of mass up risings."Ducilla Cornell, Rutgers University

• Prologue: The age of resistance page 1Part I Crisis1 The Queen’s question 192 The biopolitics of pleasure and salvation 323 Anomie I: Social ethos and political cynicism 494 The crisis as spectacle 64Part II Philosophy5 Adikia: The eternal return of resistance 776 Anomie II: Disobedience, resistance, sovereignty 897 Political ontologies 1078 People, multitude, crowd 119Part III Resistance9 Stasis Syntagma: The subjects and types of resistance 13710 Demos in the square 15511 Lessons of political strategy 176Epilogue: The Europe to come 198Notes 209Index 224