French Literature Reviews - 2026

C. Castoriadis, Political Writings, 1945-1997, Vols. I & II
History, Politics and Society

What Democracy?

POLITICAL WRITINGS 1945-1997, III and IV

Cornelius Castoriadis

Edited by Enrique Escobar, Myrto Gondicas, and Pascal Vernay

Éditions du Sandre, 2014

Volume I: 696 pages, 32 euros
ISBN 978-2-35821-096-6

Volume II: 664 pages, 32 euros
978-2-35821-097-3

VOLUME I:

I. A New Orientation

¬ For a New Orientation (1962)
¬ On the Orientation of Propaganda (1962)
¬ On the Orientation of Activities (1963)
¬ Restarting the Revolution (1963)
¬ Afterword to "Restarting the Revolution" (1963, 1974)
¬ The Miners' Strike (1963)
¬ Student Youth (1963)
¬ Fissures in the Western Bloc (1963)
¬ The Role of Bolshevik Ideology in the Birth of Bureaucracy (1964)
¬ A Few Remarks on "Rich and Poor in America" (1964)
¬ Praxis and the Roots of the Revolutionary Project (1965)
¬ The Crisis of Modern Society (1965)
¬ The Suspension of Publication of "Socialisme ou Barbarie" (1967)
¬ The Anticipated Revolution (1968)
¬ Benno Sternberg-Sarel (1971)

II. What Is an Autonomous Society?

¬ General Introduction to the "10/18" Reissue (1972)
¬ Notice for the "10/18" Reissue (1973)
¬ The Question of the History of the Labor Movement (1973)
¬ Notes on the Question of Organization (1974)
¬ The Hierarchy of Wages and Incomes (1974)
¬ Discussion with PSU Militants (1974)
¬ Self-Management and Hierarchy (1974)
¬ The Revolutionary Imperative (1976)
¬ The Hungarian Source (1976)
¬ Two Letters on Revolutionary Activity and the Situation in Spain (1975-1976)
¬ The Entertainers (1977)
¬ The Left and France in 1978 (1977)
¬ The Evolution of the PCF (1977)
¬ From Wooden Language to Rubber Language (1978)

VOLUME II:

I. A Low Era

¬ Political Illusion and Truth (1978-1979)
¬ Socialism and Autonomous Society (1979)
¬ The Negri Affair (1979)
¬ Letter to Moishe Postone on Marx and Epicycles (1980)
¬ Specificity and Crisis of Western Societies (1981-1982)
¬ Letter to Toni Negri (1982)
¬ Another Relationship Between the Instituting and the Instituted (1982)
¬ Experts and Citizens (1983)
¬ Implicit Creation and Lucid Action (1983)
¬ Power, Politics, Autonomy (1978-1987)
¬ On the Student and High School Movement of 1986 (1987)
¬ Raising the Question of the End of the Project of Freedom and Truth (1987)
¬ Knowledge and Universality (1988)
¬ Intellectuals and Conformism (1988)
¬ On "Courses of Resentment" (1988)
¬ Letter to "Il Manifesto" (1988)
¬ Self-Institution, State, and Individual (1988)
¬ "Spiros Stinas" (1989)
¬ The Role of Cities in the Construction of Europe (1989)
¬ Autonomy and the Three Spheres (1989)

II. Neither Resignation Nor Archaism

¬ Around "The Fragmented World" (1990-1991)
¬ The Problems of a Council Democracy (1991)
¬ What Democracy? (1991)
¬ "What Democracy?": Discussion (1991)
¬ The Future of the Project of Autonomy (1991)
¬ Europe Today (1992)
¬ What Became of the "Content of Socialism"? (1993)
¬ Democracy as Procedure and as Regime (1994)
¬ Orthodoxy and Greek History (1994)
¬ The Coordinations of 1986-1988 (1994)
¬ The Decay of the West: Postscript (1995)
¬ Memories of "Raoul" (1995)
¬ The Transformations of Capitalism (1996)
¬ Around "The Rising Tide of Insignificance" (1996)
¬ The "Rationality" of Capitalism (1996-1997)

Cornelius Castoriadis was a prominent thinker associated with the twentieth-century French intellectual landscape, particularly known for co-founding the journal Socialisme ou Barbarie. Within the broader context of post-war European political philosophy, his work engages with critiques of bureaucracy, Marxist theory, and the nature of revolutionary movements. The texts gathered in these volumes reflect decades of reflection on modern society, institutional power, and the historical trajectory of the labor movement, situating his voice among critical theorists addressing the structural crises of contemporary political systems.

This publication includes texts such as For a New Orientation, The Role of Bolshevik Ideology in the Birth of Bureaucracy, What Is an Autonomous Society?, and The Problems of a Council Democracy. The volumes present writings spanning from 1945 to 1997, edited by Enrique Escobar, Myrto Gondicas, and Pascal Vernay, and published by Éditions du Sandre in 2014. Readers interested in contemporary political philosophy, the history of radical thought, and the development of democratic theory may find these materials relevant.