Hegel and Resistance: History, Politics and Dialectics (Bloomsbury Studies in Continental Philosophy)

"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 Žižek, 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 into 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."--Bloomsbury Publishing. 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 Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents Frequently Cited Works 1. Introduction Part I: Method 2. Hegel, Resistance and Method 3. Resistance and Repetition: Hegel and Freud 4. Dialectics as Resistance: Hegel, Benjamin, Adorno Part II: Nature and Spirit 5. Th e Spirit of Resistance and Its Fate 6. Subjectivity, Madness and Habit: Forms of Resistance in Hegel’s Anthropology 7. Unthinking Inertia: Resistance and Obsolescence in Hegel’s Theory of History Part III: Politics 8. Freedom and Dissent in Hegel’s Philosophy of Right 9. Elements of an Inversive Right of Resistance in Hegel 10. Does the Rabble Resist Hegel’s Philosophy of Right? 11. Afterword: Antinomies of Resistance About the Authors Index