Abstract
This article draws from the reading protocols developed by José Esteban Muñoz to advance a political reading of Georges Bataille. It argues for a consistent and coherent anti-fascism across Bataille’s work, from the early “political” writings to the mature turn toward mysticism. Focusing in particular on his writings from the 1930s, this article clarifies some of the key concepts in Bataille’s critical theory of fascism: expenditure, heterology, base materialism, and democratic anguish.
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Acknowledgement
In 2017, I found a handwritten letter in my campus mailbox from the great China Miéville. He wrote in praise of my first book and cast his own project in relation to the theoretical argument I had tried to develop. It goes without saying that I have been running on the writer’s high from that letter ever since. But the main thing I remember about that letter was his criticism. Mr. Miéville was unpersuaded by my treatment of Bataille as a critical theorist and as a resource for the Left. The present article is another attempt.
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Marasco, R. Bataille’s anti-fascism. Contemp Polit Theory 21, 3–23 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-021-00497-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-021-00497-7