Althusser and the Politics of a Philosophy for Communism

Join Historical Materialism and Haymarket Books for: Althusser and the Politics of a Philosophy for Communism
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Louis Althusser engaged in a quest for a new practice of philosophy that would enable a new practice of politics for communism, in opposition to idealism and teleology. In his trajectory from the crucial interventions of the 1960s to the texts on aleatory materialism, Althusser remained a communist in philosophy.

In his book, A Philosophy for Communism: Rethinking Althusser, Panagiotis Sotiris attempts a reading of the work of the French philosopher centered upon his deeply political conception of philosophy and based upon a reading of the tensions and dynamics running through Althusser’s work and his dialogue with other thinkers.

In this discussion, Panagiotis Sotiris reflects on the main theses of the book in conversstion with Svenja Bromberg, Ted Stolze and Peter Thomas, with Maïa Pal chairing

The book:

Panagiotis Sotiris (2020) A Philosophy for Communism: Rethinking Althusser Historical Materialism Book Series Volume 211 Leiden: Brill

Relevant papers can be found at:

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Biographies of Discussants

Panagiotis Sotiris has a PhD from Panteion University and has taught social and political philosophy at various Greek universities. A member of the Editorial Board of Historical Materialism, he has edited the collective volume Crisis, Movement, Strategy: The Greek Experience (Brill 2018)

Svenja Bromberg is a Lecturer in Social Theory and Marxism at Goldsmiths University with expertise in Marxism and in French and German social theory from the 19th to the 21st century and a member of the Editorial Board of Historical Materialism.

Ted Stolze is a Philosophy Professor at Cerritos College. His more recent book is Becoming Marxist: Studies in Philosophy, Struggle and Endurance (Brill, 2019 / Haymarket 2020)

Peter Thomas is a Reader in History of Political Thought at Brunel University. A member of the Editorial Board of Historical Materialism, he is author The Gramscian Moment. Philosophy, Hegemony and Marxism (Brill,2009 / Haymarket 2011) and the the editor (with Vittorio Morfino) of The Government of Time: Theories of Plural Temporality in the Marxist Tradition (Brill 2017/ Haymarket 2019) and has written extensively on Gramsci and political philosophy and theory.

Maïa Pal is Chair of the Editorial Board of Historical Materialism and Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Oxford Brookes University. Her most recent publication is Jurisdictional Accumulation: An Early Modern History of Law, Empires, and Capital (Cambridge university Press 2020).
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[canal_changeling]

I got Panagiotis's book recently. It's great at connecting Althusser more explicitly to the Western philosophical tradition and spurring me to discover what kind of reading I'm "guilty of."

Thanks for the other book recommendations.