Backs to the Wall: A Reading of Alain Badiou's Metapolitics (Metapolitics) (Book Review‪)‬

Alain Badiou, Metapolitics, trans. Jason Barker, London, Verso, 2005. ISBN: 184467035X. Metapolitics is a small book but, given the wide range and scope of the ten essays that comprise it, it is more than a little difficult to give a concise precis of its contents. In the 'Preface to the English Edition', however, Badiou gives us, in his idiosyncratic Gallic use of numbered reasons or arguments, a list of four types of essays you will find in this book; 1) polemical essays, 2) essays of commentary and support, 3) examinations of major categories, and 4) philosophical prescriptions, which consists of the final essay only, 'Politics as Truth Procedure', and is, according to Badiou, 'the most important essay in the book' (xxxvi). This last essay would appear to be, given Badiou's qualification, a pertinent choice to highlight in a review given that one might find there something 'controversial'. And it is true that it is, for this reviewer at least, the most problematic essay in the book. However, my intention here is to highlight the first essay. My reason for doing so is simple. There is much to like in this book, yet one can be guilty of skipping over the good bits in a hasty search for the inconsistencies and contentious arguments. So my aim here is to say why I like Badiou's Metapolitics and why I think it is important.