UIS professor publishes new theory of revolt in book about philosophy and global uprisings

Richard Gilman-Opalsky, associate professor and chair of the Political Science Department at the University of Illinois Springfield, has published his fourth book.

“Specters of Revolt: On the Intellect of Insurrection and Philosophy from Below” argues that the world is haunted by revolt, by the possibility of events that interrupt and disrupt the world, that throw its reality and justice into question.

Gilman-Opalsky develops a theory of revolt that accounts for its diverse critical content about autonomy, everyday life, anxiety, experience, knowledge, and possibility.

The book examines a timeline from 1848, when Karl Marx declared that a communist specter was haunting Europe to the 2008 Greek revolts and present day uprisings in Ferguson and Baltimore.

In light of recent global uprisings, Gilman-Opalsky, aims to move beyond the critical theory of revolt to an understanding of revolt as theory itself.

The book was published by Repeater Books and is available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other websites.