Review of Daniel W. Smith's Essays on Deleuze

The Living Stones: Deleuze and the Logic of Palestinian Resistance

This deep dive examines the often-overlooked writings of philosopher Gilles Deleuze concerning the colonization of Palestine and the establishment of the Israeli state. Deleuze interprets the displacement of the Palestinian people as a specific form of settler colonialism aimed at geographical evacuation rather than simple labor exploitation. He links this process to a global matrix of capitalist development, drawing direct parallels between the treatment of Palestinians and the historical dispossession of Indigenous peoples in North America. By analyzing these political essays, the author argues that Deleuze offers a human-centered affirmation of Palestinian resistance against systems of state control and erasure. Ultimately, the source questions why these specific works have been marginalized within Western social theory, suggesting that their exclusion reflects broader colonial structures in academic knowledge.

Who’s Afraid of Deleuze and Guattari?

This deep dive examines Gregg Lambert’s Who’s Afraid of Deleuze and Guattari?, an essay that re-evaluates the philosophical and cultural legacy of the "Capitalism and Schizophrenia" project, focusing on its initial reception within American academia. Lambert argues that the radical concepts of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari—such as "minor literature" and "deterritorialization"—were often misunderstood or strategically neutralized by dominant Marxist and psychoanalytic frameworks. A central focus is the intellectual rivalry with Fredric Jameson, who viewed Deleuze’s focus on multiplicity as a threat to the unified political struggle required in the United States. Lambert critiques how institutional interpretation has "domesticated" these thinkers, transforming their revolutionary "machine-man" into a series of static, symbolic portraits. Ultimately, the text advocates for a "minor" approach to reading that prioritizes experimentation and desire over rigid, theological systems of meaning. Through this intervention, Lambert seeks to recover the pragmatic power of Deleuzian thought for a contemporary audience.

The Deleuzean Wall: Univocity and the People to Come

This deep dive examined an article by Luís Lima, which examines a critical dialogue between the philosophers Jacques Rancière and Gilles Deleuze, focusing on the metaphorical "wall" Rancière identifies within Deleuze’s fluid style of thought. While Rancière suggests this barrier represents a point where Deleuze’s philosophy reaches its limit or aporia, Lima argues that this "wall of loose stones" actually serves as a productive opening for movement and speed. The discussion bridges the realms of literature and politics, analyzing how conceptual characters and linguistic formulas can help envision a "people to come." This framework is ultimately applied to the concept of European identity, suggesting a community defined by multiplicity and univocity rather than rigid borders. By redefining the wall as an archipelago of relations, the text posits that shared existence is found in the constant crossing of these inclusive frontiers.

Power, Freedom, and the Subject

This deep dive examines an article by Paul Patton that examines the philosophical disagreement between Charles Taylor and Michel Foucault regarding the relationship between power and freedom. While Taylor argues that Foucault’s theories are incoherent because they do not view power as an oppositional force to liberation, Patton suggests that this critique relies on a narrow, humanist definition of the subject. The source clarifies that Foucault’s work focuses on how power actively constitutes individuals and their capacities rather than simply acting as an external constraint. Patton distinguishes between "power over" and "power to," aligning the latter with a form of positive freedom that involves the capacity for self-creation. Ultimately, the text seeks to defend Foucault by showing that his genealogical method identifies contingent social limits to open up new possibilities for personal autonomy. This analysis highlights how different conceptualizations of the acting subject lead to fundamentally different understandings of what it means to be free.

The New Elite: Architects of a Tech-Driven Civilization

This deep dive examines the emergence of a modern technology elite that differs from historical oligarchs by seeking to redesign human civilization rather than just accumulate wealth. These leaders possess an engineering worldview, treating complex social and political issues as optimization problems that can be solved through innovation rather than traditional governance. Operating with long-term horizons, they frequently exhibit skepticism toward established institutions and prioritize technical progress as the primary driver of human history. The source highlights a growing tension between the extraordinary influence of these visionary builders and the democratic legitimacy required to wield such power. Ultimately, it questions whether this new class will be remembered as transformative architects of the future or as an unaccountable technological aristocracy.