In an act of resistance against the usage of the word 'anarchist' as an insult and representations of anarchy as a recipe for pure disorder, The Anarchist Turn brings together innovative and fresh perspectives on anarchism to argue that in fact it represents a form of collective, truly democratic social organisation.
In the last few decades the negative caricature of anarchy has begun to crack. As free market states and state socialism preserve social hierarchies and remain apathetic on matters of inequality, globalisation and the social movements it spawned have proved what anarchists have long been advocating: an anarchical order is not just desirable, but also feasible.
A number of high profile contributors, including Judith Butler, Simon Critchley, Cinzia Arruzza and Alberto Toscano, discuss the anarchist hypothesis, referencing its many historical and geographical variants and analysing its relationship to feminism, politics, economics, history and sociology.
Jacob Blumenfeld is a researcher in Philosophy at the New School for Social Research, New York. He has taught at various schools in the City University of New York.
Chiara Bottici teaches Philosophy at the New School for Social Research, New York. Her recent publications include A Philosophy of Political Myth (2010) and Men and States (2009). She is editor of The Politics of Imagination (2011) and co-author of Imagining Europe: Myth, Memory, and Identity (2012) and The Myth of the Clash between Civilizations (2010).
Simon Critchley teaches Philosophy at the New School for Social Research, New York. He is the author of many books including The Faith of the Faithless (2012), Impossible Objects (2011), The Book of Dead Philosophers (2008) and Infinitely Demanding (2007).