French Literature Reviews - 2026
B. Massumi, Ontopouvoir – Guerre, pouvoir, perception
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas
Brian Massumi
Ontopower: War, Powers, Perception
les presses du réel
ISBN : 978-2-84066-936-4
25.00 €
424 p.
OVERVIEW
An original theory of power based on a dense and illuminating analysis of the consequences of the "war on terror" and the national security state, extending all the way to the imposition of neoliberal logic and the excesses of viral media.
A mode of power that makes life live, in the strongest sense: ontopower plunges into the field of life's emergence in order to incite it, provoke it, and modulate its taking-form. Taking as its primary object neither the power to put to death nor the power to govern the living, and extending beyond both discipline and biopower, ontopower exercises a generative force. Surging since 9/11, it unfolds around an operation innovative enough to merit a new name: preemption.
Unlike both deterrence and prevention, preemption no longer targets a clear and present danger, but rather a threat. Still indeterminate in its timing and contours, the threat has an uncertain existence. Operating on the threat entails acting upon the future in the present, following a politics of affect whose dominant register is fear.
The book traces the contours of ontopower from its emergence in the "war on terror" and the corresponding security state, to the imposition of neoliberal logic and the overflow of viral media. A decisive contribution to the genealogy of the "post-truth" regime that characterizes our era.
A Canadian philosopher and translator, Brian Massumi was a professor at the University of Montreal. Known for translating Deleuze and Guattari into English, he played a central role in disseminating their thought with his now-classic work A User's Guide to Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Deviations from Deleuze and Guattari (MIT Press, 1992).
In 2002, he published Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect, Sensation (Duke University Press). His recent works include L'économie contre elle-même (Lux, 2018), Ce que les bêtes nous apprennent de la politique (Éditions Dehors, 2019), and 99 Theses on the Re-Evaluation of Value. A Post-Communist Manifesto (University of Minnesota Press, 2018).
Brian Massumi is an active collaborator with SenseLab (founded in 2004 by artist and theorist Erin Manning), an international network of artists, academics, writers, and creators working together at the crossroads of philosophy, art, and activism.
The concept of ontopower developed in this study extends beyond traditional frameworks of discipline and biopower to examine how contemporary security apparatuses operate on potential threats. By engaging with the politics of affect and the logic of preemption, the work traces developments from the post-9/11 security state to the broader cultural conditions of viral media. Readers interested in contemporary political theory, philosophy, and media studies may find these texts relevant.
Author Brian Massumi is widely recognized for his translations of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, as well as his contributions to the study of affect, movement, and sensation. His previous publications include Parables for the Virtual and A User's Guide to Capitalism and Schizophrenia. As a former professor at the University of Montreal and a participant in the international research network SenseLab, his scholarly output spans philosophy, political critique, and cultural analysis.