The Politics of the Wretched : Race, Reason, and Ressentiment

"The Politics of the Wretched" argues for "ressentiment"'s generative negativity, prompting a shift from "ressentiment" as a personal expression of frustration to "ressentiment" as a collective "No". Inspired by Kant and Nietzsche's philosophy, Zalloua identifies two modes of deploying "ressentiment" - private and public use - by substituting "ressentiment" for reason. This reinterpretation argues for a public use of "ressentiment", for the wretched to universalize their grievances, to see their antagonism as cutting across societies, and to turn personal trauma into a common cause. A public use of "ressentiment" rails against the ideology of identity and victimhood and insists on "ressentiment"'s generative negativity, its own rationality, prompting a shift from "ressentiment" as a personal expression of frustration to "ressentiment" as a collective "No". Reframing "ressentiment" as a tool to oppose the evils of capitalism, anti-Blackness, and neocolonialism, it both alarms the liberal gatekeepers of the

status quo and promises to energize the anti-racist Left in its ongoing struggles for universal justice and emancipation. [Publisher's Text]

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