Is Anti-totalitarian Theory Still Relevant? The Example of Claude Lefort

After asking whether the concept of totalitarianism still has a meaning in today's world, and whether its critique makes political sense, the author turns to the model provided by the two phases of Claude Lefort's attempts to understand totalitarianism over the past 60 years. He distinguishes two distinct phases; the first is framed by critical Marxism, the second influenced by the phenomenology of the late Merleau-Ponty. The author stresses Lefort's major works, including the role of his pathbreaking work on Machiavelli, 'La critique du totalitarisme et l'invention de la democratie', 'Un homme en trop' (on Solzenhitsyn and the Goulag), and 'La complication' (which rejects the oversimplified interpretation of totalitarianism as simply an ideology).

Automated summary

After examining the relevance and political significance of totalitarianism in today's world, the author discusses Claude Lefort's approach to understanding totalitarianism through two distinct phases over the past 60 years. The first phase is influenced by critical Marxism, while the second phase draws on the phenomenology of the late Merleau-Ponty. The author highlights Lefort's important works, including his groundbreaking study on Machiavelli, 'The Critique of Totalitarianism and the Invention of Democracy', 'Man in Excess' (about Solzhenitsyn and the Gulag), and 'The Complication' (which rejects oversimplified interpretations of totalitarianism as mere ideology).