1. Research Library

      2. The Research Library is a continually expanding curated selection of exhibition catalogs, artist monographs, art theory, and cultural studies publications as well as works from theory, postcolonial studies, political history, geopolitics, and other fields. Together these materials seek to provide an overview of the key exhibitions, artists, theories, and discourses that made a significant contribution to charting the shifts in contemporary art and intellectual debates from 1989 till today. The physical Library is housed at BAK; an online version of it, complete with a short entry on each publication explaining why the book is relevant to FORMER WEST project research, can be accessed below. Please note that the selection of artist monographs and catalogs of solo exhibitions is not available online at this time. We are happy to receive suggestions for books to include in the Research Library. Please send an e-mail with the book title, publication data, and a short message to info@formerwest.org. If you would like to visit the physical library at BAK in Utrecht, please schedule an appointment (during visiting hours, Wednesday–Saturday 12.00–17.00 hrs, Sunday 13.00–17.00 hrs) by sending an e-mail to info@bak-utrecht.nl.
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      4. Categories:
        1. All
        2. Art History
        3. Art Theory
        4. Etc.
        5. Exhibitions (Group/Thematic)
        6. Globalization
        7. Post-Colonial Studies/Cultural Studies
        8. Political Science
        9. Political History/Geopolitics
        10. Theory
        Sort order:
        1. Title
        2. Year

        2010

        The Aesthetic UnconsciousJacques RancièrePolity Press2010THE
        The Communist PostscriptBoris GroysVerso2010THE
        The Communist HypothesisAlain BadiouVerso2010THE
        Dissensus: On Politics and Aesthetics Jacques RancièreContinuum2010THE
        The Government of Self and Others: Lectures at the College de France, 1982–1983 Michel FoucaultPalgrave2010THE
        Living in the End TimesSlavoj ŽižekVerso2010THE
        The Spirit of Terrorism (2002) Jean BaudrillardLondon: Verso2010THE
        A Society Adrift: Interviews and Debates, 1974–1997 Cornelius CastoriadisFordham University Press2010THE

        2009

        Aesthetics and Its DiscontentsJacques RancièrePolity Press2009THE
        The Aesthetics of Disappearance Paul VirilioNew York: Semiotext(e)2009THE
        Bunker Archaeology (1994) Paul VirilioPrinceton: Princeton Architectural Press2009THE
        Between Naturalism and Religion: Philosophical EssaysJürgen HabermasLondon: Polity Press2009THE
        A Companion to Marx’s CapitalDavid HarveyVerso2009THE
        CommonweathMichael Hardt and Antonio NegriHarvard University Press2009THE
        The Cultural Turn: Selected Writings on Postmodernism 1983–1998 Fredric JamesonVerso2009THE
        The Democratic Paradox (Radical Thinkers)Chantal MouffeVerso2009THE
        The Emancipated SpectatorJacques RancièreVerso2009THE
        First as Tragedy, Then as FarceSlavoj ŽižekVerso2009THE
        Frames of War: When is Life Grievable?Judith ButlerLondon: Verso2009THE
        The Future of the Image (2007)Jacques RancièreLondon: Verso2009THE
        The German IssueSylvère LotringerSemiotext(e)2009THE
        Hegel, Haiti, and Universal History (Illuminations: Cultural Formations of the Americas)Susan Buck-MorssUniversity of Pittsburgh Press2009THE
        Hatred of DemocracyJacques RanciéreVerso2009THE
        Is Critique Secular?: Blasphemy, Injury and Free Speech (Townsend Papers in the Humanities)Talal Asad, Wendy Brown, Judith Butler, Saga MahmoodUniversity of California Press2009THE
        Ideologies of TheoryFredric JamesonVerso2009THE
        Of an Obscure DisasterAlain BadiouMaastricht: Jan van Eyck Academie2009THE
        Philosophy in the PresentAlain Badiou and Slavoj ŽižekPolity Press2009THE
        The Signature of All Things: On Method Giorgio AgambenMIT Press and Zone Books2009THE
        Soft Subversions: Texts and Interviews 1977–1985 Felix GuattariSemiotext(e)2009THE
        Theory of the SubjectAlain BadiouContinuum2009THE
        Violence: Six sideways reflections Slavoj ŽižekProfile Books2009THE
        Zone des Übergangs: Vom Ende des Postkommunismus Boris BudenSuhrkamp2009THE

        2008

        Autonomia: Post-Political PoliticsSylvere Lotringer and Christian MarazziSemiotext(e)2008THE
        The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978–1979 Michel FoucaultPalgrave2008THE
        The CenturyAlain BadiouPolity Press2008THE
        Goodbye Mr. Socialism. Radical Politics in the 21st Century Antonio Negri with Raf ScelsiNew York/London: Seven Stories and Serpent’s Tail2008THE
        Ghostly Demarcations: A Symposium on Jacques Derrida's Specters of Marx Michael Sprinker Verso2008THE
        Gender Trouble (1990)Judith ButlerLondon: Routledge2008THE
        The Inoperative Community (Theory and History of Literature, Volume 76) (1991)Jean-Luc NancyMinneapolis: University of Minnesota Press2008THE
        Infinitely Demanding: Ethics of Commitment, Politics of Resistance Simon CritchleyVerso2008THE
        The Meaning of Sarkozy Alain BadiouLondon: Verso2008THE
        On the Political (Thinking in Action) (2005) Chantal MouffeLondon: Routledge2008THE
        Pure War: 25 Years Later (Semiotext(e)/Foreign Agents) (1983)Paul VirilioNew York: Semiotext(e)2008THE
        Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991) Fredric JamesonDurham: Duke University Press2008THE
        Scales of Justice: Reimagining Political Space in a Globalizing World (New Directions in Critical Theory)Nancy FraserColumbia University Press2008THE
        The Sublime Object of Ideology (1989)Slavoj ŽižekLondon: Verso2008THE
        The Three EcologiesFelix GuattariContinuum2008THE
        Transpositions: On Nomadic Ethics (2006) Rosi BraidottiLondon: Polity Press2008THE
        The Urgency of Theory (The State of the World)Antonio Pinto Ribeiro Carcanet Press2008THE
        World at RiskUlrich BeckPolity Press2008THE

        2007

        Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions Fredric JamesonVerso2007THE
        Art as Far as the Eye Can SeePaul VirilioBerg Publishers2007THE
        The Coming Community : (Theory Out of Bounds) (1993)Giorgio AgambenMinneapolis: University of Minnesota Press2007THE
        Figures of the Thinkable (Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics)Cornelius CastoriadisStanford University Press2007THE
        Ideology: An Introduction Terry EagletonVerso2007THE
        Liquid Fear (2006)Zygmunt BaumanCambridge: Polity Press 2007THE
        Late Marxism: Adorno, or the Persistence of the Dialectic Fredric JamesonVerso2007THE
        On Populist Reason (2005)Ernesto LaclauLondon: Verso2007THE
        The Politics of TruthMichel FoucaultSemiotext(e)2007THE
        Security, Territory, Population: Lectures at the College de France, 1977-78Michel FoucaultHampshire: Palgrave2007THE
        The State of the WorldAntonio Pinto Ribeiro Carcanet2007THE
        Who Sings the Nation-State?: Language, Politics, Belonging Judith Butler and Gayatri SpivakChicago University Press2007THE

        2006

        Afflicted Powers: Capital and Spectacle in a New Age of War Iain Boal, T.J. Clark, Joseph Matthews & Michael Watts (Retort),(2005)London: Verso2006THE
        Cosmopolitan VisionUlrich BeckPolity Press2006THE
        The Divided WestJürgen HabermasLondon: Polity Press2006THE
        How to Read LacanSlavoj ŽižekLondon: Granta Books2006THE
        The Information Bomb (Radical Thinkers) (2000)Paul VirilioLondon: Verso2006THE
        Memory, History, ForgettingPaul RicoeurUniversity of Chicago Press2006THE
        On the Shores of PoliticsJacques RancièreVerso2006THE
        The Politics of Aesthetics (2004) Jacques RancièreLondon: Continuum2006THE
        PolemicsAlain BadiouLondon: Verso2006THE
        Precarious Life: The Power of Mourning and Violence (2004) Judith ButlerLondon: Verso2006THE
        Spectres of Marx. The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning and the New International (1994) Jacques DerridaLondon: Routledge2006THE
        Thinking Past Terror: Islamism and Critical Theory on the Left (2003) Susan Buck-MorssLondon: Verso2006THE

        2005

        The Conspiracy of Art: Manifestos, Texts, Interviews Jean BaudrillardSemiotext(e)2005THE
        For Marx (Radical Thinkers)Louis AlthusserVerso2005THE
        How to Read MarxPeter OsborneLondon: Granta Books2005THE
        Iraq. The Borrowed Kettle (2004) Slavoj ŽižekLondon: Verso2005THE
        Infinite Thought: Truth and the Return of Philosophy Alain BadiouLondon: Continuum2005THE
        Power in the Global Age: A New Global Political Economy Ulrich BeckPolity Press2005THE
        The Return of the Political (1993) Chantal MouffeLondon: Verso2005THE

        2004

        Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia Gilles Deleuze and Felix GuattariContinuum2004THE
        Difference and RepetitionGilles DeleuzeContinuum2004THE
        The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature Pierre BourdieuPolity Press2004THE
        Handbook of InaestheticsAlain BadiouStanford University Press2004THE
        Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire Michael Hardt and Antoni NegriNew York: Penguin2004THE
        On Anxiety (Thinking in Action)Renate SaleclRoutledge2004THE
        The Philosopher and His PoorJacques RancièreDuke University Press2004THE
        Revolution at the Gates: Žižek on Lenin, the 1917 Writings Slavoj ŽižekVerso2004THE
        A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia Gilles Deleuze and Felix GuattariContinuum2004THE

        2003

        Capitalism and Citizenship: The Impossible Partnership Kathryn DeanRoutledge2003THE
        Debating Empire (New Left Review Debates)Gopal Balakrishnan Verso2003THE
        Deleuze and the PoliticalPaul PattonRoutledge2003THE
        The Puppet and the Dwarf: The Perverse Core of Christianity Slavoj ŽižekMIT Press2003THE
        Philosophy in a Time of Terror: Dialogues with Jürgen Habermas and Jacques DerridaGiovanna BorrodoriChicago: University of Chicago Press2003THE
        We the People of Europe? Reflections on Transnational Citizenship (2003) Étienne BalibarPrinceton: Princeton University Press2003THE

        2002

        The Arcades ProjectWalter BenjaminHarvard University Press2002THE
        Dreamworld and Catastrophe: The Passing of Mass Utopia in East and West (2000) Susan Buck-MorssCambridge, Mass.: MIT Press2002THE
        Politics and the Other Scene (Phronesis) Étienne BalibarLondon: Verso2002THE
        Religion and Rationality: Essays on Reason, God and ModernityJürgen HabermasLondon: Blackwell2002THE
        Welcome to the Desert of the Real!: Five Essays on September 11 and Related DatesSlavoj ŽižekLondon: Verso2002THE

        2001

        Did Somebody Say Totalitarianism? Five Interventions in the Mis(use) of a Notion Slavoj ŽižekLondon: Verso2001THE
        Empire (2000) Michael Hardt and Antoni NegriCambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press2001THE
        Hegemony and Socialist Strategy : Towards a Radical Democratic Politics (1985)Ernesto Laclau and Chantal MouffeLondon: Verso2001THE
        Hatred of Capitalism: A Semiotext(e) Reader (Double Agents) Chris Kraus and Sylvere LotringerSemiotext(e)2001THE
        On Belief (Thinking in Action)Slavoj ŽižekRoutledge2001THE
        On Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness (Thinking in Action)Jacques DerridaRoutledge2001THE

        2000

        Contingency, Hegemony, Universality. Contemporary Dialogues on the LeftJudith Butler, Ernesto Laclau, and Slavoj ŽižekLondon: Verso2000THE
        Of HospitalityJacques DerridaStanford: Stanford University Press2000THE
        What’s Left of Theory?: New Work on the Politics of Literary TheoryJudith Butler, John Guillory, and Kendall Thomas Routledge2000THE

        1999

        The Challenge of Carl SchmittChantal MouffeLondon: Verso1999THE
        Disagreement. Politics and PhilosophyJacques RancièreUniversity of Minnesota Press1999THE
        Lyotard and the Political (Thinking the Political)James WilliamsRoutledge1999THE

        1998

        Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life Giorgio AgambenStanford: Stanford University Press1998THE
        Spinoza: Practical Philosophy Gilles DeleuzeCity Lights Books1998THE

        1997

        A Berlin Republic: Writings on Germany Jürgen HabermasUniversity of Nebraska Press1997THE
        Excitable Speech: Politics of the Performative Judith ButlerRoutledge1997THE
        Fables of Responsibility: Aberrations and Predicaments in Ethics and PoliticsThomas KeenanStanford: Stanford University Press1997THE
        Justice Interruptus: Critical Reflections on the “Postsocialist” Condition Nancy FraserRoutledge1997THE
        New Reflections on the Revolution of Our TimeErnesto LaclauVerso1997THE
        Retreating the Political (Warwick Studies in European Philosophy)Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe and Jean-Luc NancyLondon: Routledge1997THE

        1996

        Emancipation(s)Ernesto LaclauVerso1996THE
        Foucault Live: Interviews, 1961–1984 Michel FoucaultSemiotext(e)1996THE

        1995

        Foucault and the Political (Thinking the Political)Jonathan SimonsRoutledge1995THE

        1994

        Making of Political IdentitiesErnesto Laclau Verso1994THE
        Simulacra and SimulationJean Baudrillard, Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press1994THE
        What is Philosophy?Gilles Deleuze and Felix GuattariVerso1994THE

        1992

        Dimensions of Radical Democracy: Pluralism, Citizenship, CommunityChantal MouffeLondon: Verso1992THE
        The Gulf War Did Not Take Place Jean BaudrillardIndianapolis: Indiana University Press1992THE

        1991

        Discipline & Punish. The Birth of the Prison(1977) Michel FoucaultNew York: Penguin1991THE
        Philosophy, Politics, Autonomy: Essays in Political Philosophy Cornelius CastoriadisOxford University Press1991THE
        Strangers to OurselvesJulia KristevaNew York: Columbia University Press1991THE
        Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of NatureDonna HarawayLondon: Free Association Books1991THE

        1990

        Nationalism, Colonialism, and LiteratureTerry Eagleton, Fredric Jameson, and Edward SaidMinneapolis: University of Minnesota Press1990THE

        1989

        America (1988) Jean BaudrillardLondon: Verso1989THE

        1988

        The Practice of Everyday Life (1984)Michel de CerteauBerkeley: University of California Press1988THE

        1986

        The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (1984) Jean-Francois LyotardManchester: Manchester University Press1986THE
        The Political Forms of Modern Society: Bureaucracy, Democracy, Totalitarianism Claude LefortMIT Press1986THE

        1980

        Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: Lectures on the ‘Phenomenology of the Spirit'Alexandre KojèveCornell University Press1980THE
        Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews & Other Writings 1972-1977Michel FoucaultNew York: Pantheon Books1980THE