The Mediocracy: French Philosophy Since the Mid-1970s Paperback - 2002

From the rear cover

Defending and contrasting the common critical project to which Althusser, Foucault, and others were committed before and after 1968 with the philosophical impostures and political abdications of the present, Lecourt calls for a resumption of the traditions that made Paris the post-war intellectual capital of Europe.

Media reviews

“Serious students and professors of French history and culture between 1968 and 1998 will find this book fascinating ... It effectively recreates the intense intellectual atmosphere of Paris during the 30 years following the ‘events’ of 1968. Lecourt, a former student of Louis Althusser, draws on a rich tapestry of books, newspaper columns, magazine articles, TV broadcasts, and university lectures.”—Choice

“Dominique Lecourt ... [is] rightly concerned with the present state of French intellectual life, and fearful for its future.”—Radical Philosophy

“Without a doubt, Lecourt’s observations on the French philosophical scene will appeal to fans and specialists eager for a glimpse of when ‘Derrida was not yet Derrida’, of mysterious Guy Debord and his ‘Situationist’ admirers, and tidbits from the ‘battle of petitions’ that once defined political struggle among French intellectuals. His insistence, against the French team of Luc Ferry and Alain Renault, that the protests of May ‘68 comprised quite diverse ideological elements and not just an ‘anti-humanist’ rigidity, deserves consideration.”—Philadelphia Inquirer