Postcolonial Agency: Critique and Constructivism

"This book complements and balances the attention given by postcolonial theory to the revitalisation and recognition of the agency of colonised peoples. It offers new conceptual scaffolding to those who have inherited the legacy of colonial privilege, and who now seek to responsibly transform this historical injustice. Simone Bignall attends to a minor tradition within Western philosophy including Spinoza, Nietzsche, Bergson and Deleuze, to argue that a non-imperial concept of social and political agencyand a postcolonial philosophy of material transformation are embedded within aspects of poststructuralist social philosophy. Contributing to contemporary philosophical inquiry about desire, power and transformative agency, Postcolonial Agency constitutesa timely intervention to debates in poststructuralist, postcolonial and postmodern studies. Beginning with a critical treatment of the dialectical notions that dominate much postcolonial theory, Bignall then outlines a constructive and transformative theory of practice by drawing from Foucault and Deleuze. The resulting rapprochement between poststructuralism and postcolonialism coincidentally provides a fresh perspective on the political potential of Deleuzian thought." -- Publisher description.

`Theoretically sophisticated and meticulosusly situated at the fragught scenee of reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples in contemporary Australia, Postcolonial Agency is an inspiring manifesto for non-imperial mutuality. Bignall's advocacy of an ethics of joy opens up anew dirction for postcoloinal studies.' Professor Leela Gandhi, Department of English, University of Chicago

This book complements and balances the attention given by postcoloinal theory to teh revitalisation and recognition of the agency of colonised peoples. It offers new conceptual scaffolding to those who have inherited the langay of colonical privilage, and who now seek to responsibly trasforma this historical injustice. Simone Bignall attends to a minjor tradition within Western philosophy including Spinoza, Nietzsche, Bergson and Deleuze, to argue that a non-imperial concept of ethical and political agency and a postcoloinal philosophy of mateial trasformation are embedded within aspects of post-structuralist social philosophy.

Postcolnial Agency provides readers readers with a significantly new understanding of teh processes of social transformation faced by many sociaeties as thy struggle with the aftermath of empire. It does so by engaging readers with respect to their affective communities and their concrete ethics of relationship, providing them with a valuable new way of conceptualising practices of postcolonial sociability. It will be of interest to students and researchers in poltial and postcolonial studes, cultural studies, critical theory and Continental philosophy.

Simone Bignall is a Visiting Fellow in the School of Hisoty and Philosophy at the Universiy of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. she is the co-editor, with Paul Patton, of Deleuze and the Postcolonial (EUP, 2010)