The Excessive Subject

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In The Excessive Subject: A New Theory of Social Change,Molly Anne Rothenberg uncovers an innovative theory of socialchange implicit in the writings of radical social theorists, suchas Pierre Bourdieu, Michel de Certeau, Judith Butler, ErnestoLaclau, and Slavoj ?i?ek. Through case studies of these writers'work, Rothenberg illuminates how this new theory calls intoquestion currently accepted views of social practices, subjectformation, democratic interaction, hegemony, political solidarity,revolutionary acts, and the ethics of alterity. Finding a common dissatisfaction with the dominant paradigms ofsocial structures in the authors she discusses, Rothenberg goes onto show that each of these thinkers makes use of Lacan'sinvestigations of the causality of subjectivity in an effort tofind an alternative paradigm. Labeling this paradigm 'extimatecausality', Rothenberg demonstrates how it produces anondeterminacy, so that every subject bears some excess;paradoxically, this excess is what structures the social fielditself. Whilst other theories of social change, subject formation,and political alliance invariably conceive of the elimination ofthis excess as necessary to their projects, the theory of extimatecausality makes clear that it is ineradicable. To imagine otherwiseis to be held hostage to a politics of fantasy. As she examines theimportance as well as the limitations of theories that put extimatecausality to work, Rothenberg reveals how the excess of the subjectpromises a new theory of social change. By bringing these prominent thinkers together for the first timein one volume, this landmark text will be sure to ignite debateamong scholars in the field, as well as being an indispensable toolfor students.

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Molly Anne Rothenberg

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Continental Philosophy Kontinentalphilosophie Philosophie Philosophy

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"The dagger that begins it cuts through Rothenberg's book with afine precision. It dissects in the works of several of the mostinfluential theorists of our day a powerful and new concept ofcause which often gets away from the authors who struggle to defineit. Rothenberg's astute argument is richly woven, lucid, and highlycompelling." Joan Copjec, author of Imagine There's No Woman "We still don't know what a subject can do. We still don't knowhow to think subjective agency together with social causality.Rothenberg's path-breaking and systematic study of 'extimatecausality,' combining psychoanalysis and emancipatory socialtheory, goes a long way towards formulating decisive new answers tothese perennial questions." Peter Hallward, Middlesex University "Rothenberg's insights into the structure of the subject and itsrelevance for social and political theory are peerless. For anyonebeginning to study the themes and thinkers covered in this book,this is the place to start." Ed Pluth, California State University
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