The Undercommons

By Stefano Harney, Fred Moten,

Book cover of The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study

Book description

Literary Nonfiction. African American Studies. Politics. Philosophy & Critical Theory. Introduction by Jack Halberstam. In this series of essays, Fred Moten and Stefano Harney draw on the theory and practice of the black radical tradition as it supports, inspires, and extends contemporary social and political thought and aesthetic critique. Today…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked The Undercommons as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I first read The Undercommons in a virtual reading group during the early months of the COVID pandemic and was quite taken by its poetics and unfolding conceptual terrain. Beginning with an analysis of academia as a significant ideological state apparatus, Moten and Harney also discuss multiple forms of state violence and capture in racial capitalist formations. From the notion of the settler-capitalist garrison responding to “the surround” of the colonized and marginalized, to the connection between policy and policing, to the logic of reified colonial conquest, to logistics and professionalization, The Undercommons is a meditation on methods of state…

From J.'s list on the state and state repression.

Want books like The Undercommons?

Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Undercommons.

Browse books like The Undercommons

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in higher education, African Americans, and politics?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about higher education, African Americans, and politics.

Higher Education Explore 35 books about higher education
African Americans Explore 725 books about African Americans
Politics Explore 703 books about politics