The Political Imaginary of the Paris Commune

In this talk based on her new book, Communal Luxury [Verso 2015];L'Imaginaire de la Commune [La Fabrique 2015]), Kristin Ross discusses the political imaginary that fueled and outlived the Paris Commune of1871, when Communard exiles in the 1870s and 80s met up withsupporters like Karl Marx, Peter Kropotkin and William Morris. Theimaginary the Commune leaves to us, she argues, is neither that of anational republican middle class nor that of the state-managedcollectivism that dominated the first half of the 20th century. Forthis reason the Commune's laboratory of political invention lendsitself to a consideration framed by our own concerns today: how torefashion an international conjuncture; the future of education, laborand the status of art; the commune-form and its relation to ecologicaltheory. A reception will follow the talk.Kristin Ross is Professor of Comparative Literature at New YorkUniversity. Her previous books include Fast Cars, Clean Bodies:Decolonization and the Reordering of French Culture, and May '68 andits Afterlives.