Eva von Redecker – författare

The concept of revolution marks the ultimate horizon of modern politics. It is instantiated by sites of both hope and horror. Within progressive thought, “revolution” often perpetuates entrenched philosophical problems: a teleological philosophy of history, economic reductionism, and normative paternalism. At a time of resurgent uprisings, how can revolution be reconceptualized to grasp the dynamics of social transformation and disentangle revolutionary practice from authoritarian usurpation?Eva von Redecker reconsiders critical theory’s understanding of radical change in order to offer a bold new account of how revolution occurs. She argues that revolutions are not singular events but extended processes: beginning from the interstices of society, they succeed by gradually rearticulating social structures toward a new paradigm. Developing a theoretical account of social transformation, Praxis and Revolution incorporates a wide range of insights, from the Frankfurt School to queer theory and intersectionality. Its revised materialism furnishes prefigurative politics with their social conditions and performative critique with its collective force.Von Redecker revisits the French Revolution to show how change arises from struggle in everyday social practice. She illustrates the argument through rich literary examples—a ménage à trois inside a prison, a radical knitting circle, a queer affinity group, and petitioners pleading with the executioner—that forge a feminist, open-ended model of revolution.Praxis and Revolution urges readers not only to understand revolutions differently but also to situate them elsewhere: in collective contexts that aim to storm manifold Bastilles—but from within.

The concept of revolution marks the ultimate horizon of modern politics. It is instantiated by sites of both hope and horror. Within progressive thought, “revolution” often perpetuates entrenched philosophical problems: a teleological philosophy of history, economic reductionism, and normative paternalism. At a time of resurgent uprisings, how can revolution be reconceptualized to grasp the dynamics of social transformation and disentangle revolutionary practice from authoritarian usurpation?Eva von Redecker reconsiders critical theory’s understanding of radical change in order to offer a bold new account of how revolution occurs. She argues that revolutions are not singular events but extended processes: beginning from the interstices of society, they succeed by gradually rearticulating social structures toward a new paradigm. Developing a theoretical account of social transformation, Praxis and Revolution incorporates a wide range of insights, from the Frankfurt School to queer theory and intersectionality. Its revised materialism furnishes prefigurative politics with their social conditions and performative critique with its collective force.Von Redecker revisits the French Revolution to show how change arises from struggle in everyday social practice. She illustrates the argument through rich literary examples—a ménage à trois inside a prison, a radical knitting circle, a queer affinity group, and petitioners pleading with the executioner—that forge a feminist, open-ended model of revolution.Praxis and Revolution urges readers not only to understand revolutions differently but also to situate them elsewhere: in collective contexts that aim to storm manifold Bastilles—but from within.

As the habitable areas of the Earth shrink under climate change, and as many governments around the world adopt measures to deport migrants and refugees, it is time to reexamine our traditional notion of freedom.In the Western tradition, freedom is generally understood in relation to space: it is the freedom of movement and the freedom not to be obstructed in one's movement by the state or anyone else. In The Freedom to Stay, von Redecker puts forward the radical argument that we should think of freedom in temporal rather than spatial terms. This means thinking of freedom as the capacity to endure in time and to have the time to be and do as one wishes. This reorientation aligns human liberty with ecological concerns.Combining vivid personal narrative with rigorous philosophical argument, von Redecker shows that freedom is best realized when understood as fulfilled time. The political act of staying ties freedom to material conditions. It requires that habitable space be provided for everyone, including all nonhuman forms of life around us. Staying also reconnects freedom with desire. It channels the urge to live in all creatures, celebrates the ensuing abundance, and honors the specifically human aspiration for free and fulfilled time.

As the habitable areas of the Earth shrink under climate change, and as many governments around the world adopt measures to deport migrants and refugees, it is time to reexamine our traditional notion of freedom.In the Western tradition, freedom is generally understood in relation to space: it is the freedom of movement and the freedom not to be obstructed in one's movement by the state or anyone else. In The Freedom to Stay, von Redecker puts forward the radical argument that we should think of freedom in temporal rather than spatial terms. This means thinking of freedom as the capacity to endure in time and to have the time to be and do as one wishes. This reorientation aligns human liberty with ecological concerns.Combining vivid personal narrative with rigorous philosophical argument, von Redecker shows that freedom is best realized when understood as fulfilled time. The political act of staying ties freedom to material conditions. It requires that habitable space be provided for everyone, including all nonhuman forms of life around us. Staying also reconnects freedom with desire. It channels the urge to live in all creatures, celebrates the ensuing abundance, and honors the specifically human aspiration for free and fulfilled time.

Judith Butler hat die feministische Theorie revolutioniert und entscheidende Beiträge zur Philosophie des Subjekts geleistet. In ihren jüngsten Schriften, die sich gegen Krieg und staatliche Gewalt wenden, überführt sie ihre Subjekttheorie schließlich in eine Ethik der Gewaltlosigkeit. Die vorliegende Einleitung macht verständlich, mit welchen Anliegen und welchen theoretischen Mitteln Butler „Gewalt vor der Gewalt“ auf diversen Gebieten kritisiert. Ihre zentralen Begriffe wie „Performativität“, „Melancholie“ und „Verletzlichkeit“ werden jeweils in Bezug auf ihre Konzeptionen von Geschlecht, Subjekt und Widerstand hin erklärt und ermöglichen einen versierten Überblick über und Einstieg in das Werk der vielleicht provozierendsten und faszinierendsten Denkerin der Gegenwart.