Todd McGowan, a Professor of Film Studies at the University of Vermont, delves into the complexities of universality and identity politics. He argues that universal values like equality and freedom arise from our experiences of their absence. McGowan critically examines the history of Nazism and Stalinism, offering a nuanced view that transcends typical totalitarian narratives. He also discusses how contemporary movements, such as Black Lives Matter, navigate the tension between universality and particularism, urging a reevaluation of identity's role in social struggles.
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Motivation for Writing
Todd McGowan wrote "Universality and Identity Politics" to challenge critiques of universality.
He argues that a leftist project needs universality and redefines its meaning.
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Universality and Particularity
McGowan defines universality as the constitutive absence within a social order, shaping identity.
Particularity is defined by its failure to realize itself within the universal structure.
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Left vs. Right
McGowan frames the left-right divide as a struggle between universality and particularity.
He argues that the right needs an enemy, while the left embraces inclusivity.
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Todd McGowan's "Emancipation After Hegel" offers a unique psychoanalytic and German idealist interpretation of Hegel's philosophy. McGowan challenges conventional readings of Hegel, emphasizing the philosopher's engagement with contradiction as a fundamental aspect of his thought. The book delves into Hegel's concept of contradiction, arguing that it's not merely opposition but an inherent aspect of reality itself. McGowan connects Hegel's ideas to contemporary political issues, exploring their implications for Marxism and other leftist perspectives. Ultimately, the book advocates for a re-evaluation of Hegel's political thought, highlighting its relevance to understanding and navigating social and political contradictions.
Capitalism and Desire
Capitalism and Desire
Todd McGowan
The Black Jacobins
Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution
C. L. R. James
Written by C.L.R. James in 1938, 'The Black Jacobins' is a pioneering historical work that recounts the Haitian Revolution of 1791–1804. The book places the revolution in the context of the French Revolution and highlights the leadership of Toussaint L'Ouverture, who rose from being a slave to a prominent figure espousing the French Revolutionary ideals of liberty and equality. James's work challenges conventional historiography by emphasizing the agency of the enslaved and their role in shaping their own history. It also explores the broader implications of the Haitian Revolution, linking it to the destruction of European feudalism and the global struggle against colonialism and slavery[1][4][5].
Why Did the Heavens Not Darken?
Why Did the Heavens Not Darken?
Arno Mayer
Universality and Identity Politics
Universality and Identity Politics
Todd McGowan
The great political ideas and movements of the modern world were founded on a promise of universal emancipation. But in recent decades, much of the Left has grown suspicious of such aspirations. Critics see the invocation of universality as a form of domination or a way of speaking for others, and have come to favor a politics of particularism—often derided as “identity politics.” Others, both centrists and conservatives, associate universalism with twentieth-century totalitarianism and hold that it is bound to lead to catastrophe.
This book develops a new conception of universality that helps us rethink political thought and action. Todd McGowan argues that universals such as equality and freedom are not imposed on us. They emerge from our shared experience of their absence and our struggle to attain them. McGowan reconsiders the history of Nazism and Stalinism and reclaims the universalism of movements fighting racism, sexism, and homophobia. He demonstrates that the divide between Right and Left comes down to particularity versus universality. Despite the accusation of identity politics directed against leftists, every emancipatory political project is fundamentally a universal one—and the real proponents of identity politics are the right wing. Through a wide range of examples in contemporary politics, film, and history, Universality and Identity Politics (Columbia UP, 2020) offers an antidote to the impasses of identity and an inspiring vision of twenty-first-century collective struggle.
Todd McGowan is professor of film studies at the University of Vermont. His previous Columbia University Press books are The Impossible David Lynch (2007), Capitalism and Desire: The Psychic Cost of Free Markets (2016), and Emancipation After Hegel: Achieving a Contradictory Revolution (2019). He is the coeditor of the Diaeresis series at Northwestern University Press with Slavoj Žižek and Adrian Johnston. He is also cohost of the Why Theory podcast, which brings continental philosophy and psychoanalytic theory together to examine cultural phenomena.
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