Critical Theory from the Margins: Horizons of Possibility in the Age of Extremism

Consortium Scholar Saladdin Ahmed’s book now available for purchase.

Consortium scholar and political philosopher Saladdin Ahmed’s book Critical Theory from the Margins: Horizons of Possibility in the Age of Extremism is now available in paperback on SUNY Press’s website.

Use the offer code NBN324 for 30% off until April 30, 2024.

“Identifying glimmers of hope in our dark ages is no easy task, yet that is exactly what Saladdin Ahmed achieves in this book. Uncompromising analysis of the current stage of capitalism and of the fascist ideologies it carries along, combined with innovative interpretations of critical theories of the past, lead to the delineation of ‘horizons of possibility’ that could provide strategic guidance to contemporary global social movements.”

— Razmig Keucheyan, University of Paris-Sorbonne

More about the book: Great critical theorists from Marx and Engels to Adorno and Horkheimer not only came from the margins but also stayed faithful to the plight of the marginalized. They refused to compromise about the struggle for equality and tried to universalize its emancipatory essence. From Marx to Benjamin, critical philosophers who showed fidelity to the cause were denied a career in European universities and made impoverished, stateless, and homeless. Marginalization and critical theory are inseparable; yet, today, Marxism is institutionalized, and the Frankfurt School’s Critical Theory is gentrified. Critical Theory from the Margins, however, revives the Critical Theory that endorses criticism, aiming to negate dominant regimes of truth. It is unapologetic in its fidelity to the universalist struggles of the minoritized. In that spirit, Saladdin Ahmed shows that capitalism imposes a totalitarian social mode of existence and neoliberalism perpetuates fascism as a class of ideology across nationalist and religious movements. This book, then, is both a theorization and an argument in favor of the application of the episteme of the silenced as the essence of the critical education necessary for achieving universal emancipation.

Saladdin Ahmed is a former Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at Union College. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Ottawa, an M.A. in philosophy from Brock University, an M.A. in Language Studies, and a B.A. in philosophy from Carleton University. Dr. Ahmed is an Iraqi exile and a naturalized Canadian citizen He is the author of Totalitarian Space and the Destruction of Aura, also published by SUNY Press.