Deleuze and World Politics

Book excerpt: The central argument of this book is that the univocal ontology and corresponding immanent metaphysics of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995) can provide a theoretical perspective capable of accounting for the complex nature of world politics. Drawing on a wide variety of Deleuze’s writings, it develops a thorough investigation of his ontology and metaphysics as they pertain to core questions of world politics such as power, identity, hierarchy, space, time, territory and the state. The book explores the dynamics of contemporary world politics and issues by focusing on the ‘anti’ or ‘alter-globalization movement’ (AGM). It analyses several approaches to social and political theory which deal explicitly with the AGM including global governance theory, international relations, social movement theory, Marxism, and post-Marxism. These are contrasted with a larger Deleuzian theory which can be of use when addressing the diffuse, and often paradoxical aspects of world politics. Deleuze’s work poses a major challenge to traditional understanding of global politics and this book will be of considerable interest to those with an interest in social and political theory, critical international relations and globalization studies.