The reactionary tradition behind Sarkozy, and the communist hypothesis for the twenty-first century

In this incisive, acerbic work, Alain Badiou looks beyond the petty vulgarity of the French president to decipher the true significance of what he represents-a reactionary tradition that goes back more than a hundred years. To escape the malaise that has enveloped the Left since Sarkozy's election, Badiou casts aside the slavish worship of electoral democracy and maps out a communist hypothesis that lays the basis for an emancipatory politics of the twenty-first century.

"Magnificently stirring ... a characteristically lucid polemic from a philosopher who is far from willing to abandon humanity to the vicissitudes of so-called global capitalism." - Frieze

"In the tradition of revolutionary pamphleteering." - Irish Times

"Compelling ... He deconstructs, with languid, sarcastic ferocity, the notion that 'France chose Sarkozy' ... a very French piece of political venom." - The Observer

"Heir to Jean-Paul Sartre and Louis Althusser ... a thundering, rallying tirade." - New Statesman

"Incisive, incredibly readable and funny critique." - Le Monde Diplomatique