Blog post

Discover New Radical Thinking

5 of our classic Radical Thinkers: reissued for our 50th year.

Verso Books 1 April 2020

Discover New Radical Thinking

Our Radical Thinkers series publishes beautifully designed important works of theory and philosophy, from thinkers including Walter Benjamin, Judith Butler, Chantal Mouffe, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Derrida, and Theodor Adorno.

First launched in 2005, there are now over 120 books in the series. Recent collections have been themed, with sets focusing on Black Radicalism (with books from Angela Davis and W.E.B. Du Bois), Feminist Theory, Economics, and Psycoanalytics.

In 2020 (our 50th year!), we have reissued 5 of our classic Radical Thinkers from across the series with beautiful new cover design, including Adorno's philosophical masterpiece, Minima Moralia, and Nancy Fraser's iconic anti-capitalist feminist work, Fortunes of Feminism. See below for the full set and new designs! Discover new Radical Thinkers by looking through the series here.

ALL our Radical Thinkers are 80% off (ebook) and 40% off (print book) as part of our Reading in Isolation.

Bundled ebooks are included with print purchase (where available!) - if you don't see an ebook, then sadly one does not currently exist. Not all books are available in all regions - some may be out of stock or go out of stock during the sale.

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A classic of twentieth-century thought, Minima Moralia is Adorno's literary and philosophical masterpiece.

Written between 1944 and 1947, Minima Moralia is a collection of rich, lucid aphorisms and essays about life in modern capitalist society. Adorno casts his penetrating eye across society in mid-century America and finds a life deformed by capitalism. This is Adorno's theoretical and literary masterpiece and a classic of twentieth-century thought.

All week we are publishing an excerpt from this classic work. Read them all here!

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Charts the history of women’s liberation and calls for a revitalized feminism.

Second Wave feminism emerged as a struggle for women’s liberation and took its place alongside other radical movements. But feminism’s subsequent immersion in identity politics coincided with a decline in its utopian energies and the rise of neoliberalism. Now, foreseeing a revival in the movement, Fraser argues for a reinvigorated feminist radicalism able to address the global economic crisis.

Read an excerpt here.

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The classic analysis of how particular political and cultural ideas come to dominate society.

The publication of For Marx and Reading Capital established Louis Althusser as one of the most influential figures in the Western Marxist tradition. On Ideology charts Althusser’s critique of the theoretical system unveiled in his own major works, and his developing practice of philosophy as a “revolutionary weapon.”

Read an excerpt here.

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A tour de force of the materialist semiotics of the early Baudrillard.

The System of Objects is a tour de force—a theoretical letter-in-a-bottle tossed into the ocean in 1968, which brilliantly communicates to us all the live ideas of the day—offering a cultural critique of the commodity in consumer society.

Read an excerpt here

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A powerful new understanding of citizenship, democracy and pluralism.

Chantal Mouffe is one of the most influential political theorists at work today. Her work has influenced political parties across Europe and continues to inform the direction of left politics. In this work, Mouffe argues that liberal democracy misunderstands the problems of ethnic, religious and nationalist conflicts because of its inadequate conception of politics.

Read an excerpt here.

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See all the books in our Radical Thinkers series here. Not sure where to start? See our Guide to our Radical Thinkers.

Minima Moralia

Minima Moralia

Written between 1944 and 1947, Minima Moralia is a collection of rich, lucid aphorisms and essays about life in modern capitalist society. Adorno casts his penetrating eye across society in mid-cen...
Fortunes of Feminism
Second Wave feminism emerged as a struggle for women’s liberation and took its place alongside other radical movements. But feminism’s subsequent immersion in identity politics coincided with a dec...
On Ideology

On Ideology

The publication of For Marx and Reading Capital established Louis Althusser as one of the most influential figures in the Western Marxist tradition. On Ideology charts Althusser’s critique of the t...
The System of Objects

The System of Objects

The System of Objects is a tour de force—a theoretical letter-in-a-bottle tossed into the ocean in 1968, which brilliantly communicates to us all the live ideas of the day—offering a cultural criti...
The Return of the Political
Chantal Mouffe is one of the most influential political theorists at work today. Her work has influenced political parties across Europe and continues to inform the direction of left politics. In t...