Michel Serres and the Crises of the Contemporary - (Michel Serres and Material Futures) by Rick Dolphijn & Joanna Hodge & David Webb (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Michel Serres captures the urgencies of our time; from the digital revolution to the ecological crisis to the future of the university, the crises that code the world today are addressed in an accessible, affirmative and remarkably original analysis in his thought.

This volume is the first to engage with the philosophy of Michel Serres, not by writing 'about' it, but by writing 'with' it. This is done by expanding upon the urgent themes that Serres works on; by furthering his materialism, his emphasis on communication and information, his focus on the senses, and the role of mathematics in thought. His famous concepts, such as the parasite, 'amis de viellesse', and the algorithm are applied in 21st century situations. With contributions from an international and interdisciplinary team of authors, these writings tackle the crises of today and affirm the contemporary relevance of Serres' philosophy.

Review Quotes

"This collection is both timely and important. The essays gathered here deploy many of the concepts and modes of thinking that Michel Serres has developed through his prodigious body of work, to make sense of the conditions of crisis, economic, environmental and political, that we currently inhabit. They take their impetus from the living and loving sweep of Serres's work, as they range between nature, language, mathematics, knowledge, technology and the senses. Their manner of thinking with, rather than merely about Serres, means that they are able to move beyond the parched, penurious work of critique to the imagination of new ways of thinking, feeling and being." --Steven Connor, Grace 2 Professor of English, University of Cambridge, UK

"In a collection of 21st century applications for Michel Serres' social and theoretical modelling, Rick Dolphijn has brought together a range of thinkers exercising the dynamic priorities of Serres' thinking, providing us relational strategies and plausible analogues for our time. This collection of writings and interviews helps all of us into the conversations that Serres' vision makes possible." --Craig Smith, Associate Professor, School of Art and Art History, University of Florida, USA

"This important book admirably seeks not only to understand Serres but to use his thought to challenge and re-frame some of today's most pressing social and philosophical debates, from the body and materialism to ecology and the future of the university. Its compelling interventions leave the reader with an acute sense of the contemporary urgency of thinking both with and through Serres. Both scholars familiar with the breadth of Serres's work and those new to the significance and relevance his timely thought will find much of interest and, more importantly, of use in these pages." --Christopher Watkin, Senior Lecturer in French Studies, Monash University, Australia

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