This is a most interesting introduction to the thinking of Antonio Negri, who has emerged as one of the more provocative thinkers of our time.
The book is conceived as a series of conversations around approximately 50 entries in a Negrian lexicon, divided into 26 chapters, each of which refers to a letter in the alphabet.
There is a mixture of biographical anecdote and conceptual excursion that makes for compelling reading. Those wishing for insight into Negri's personal journey are offered a candid account of his activist 1970s and 80s in Italy and his exile in France. Readers wishing a relatively accessible introduction to Negri's more substantial works are introduced to most of the key concepts in his thinking (empire, multitude, biopolitical production, singularity, kairos, resistance, ...) In the first half of the book, Negri deals with the "lovely paradox" of self-defeating growth which capitalism has wrought upon itself. In the latter half of the book, Negri develops his alternative of a radical democracy based on a voluntarist, Spinozian materialism.
I'm slightly puzzled as to why Negri has chosen Anne Dufourementelle as his interlocutor. Sometimes she is right on the ball, coaxing Negri into very personal observations or a sophisticated line of argument. At other times the interviewer leaves interesting tangents unexplored or indulges into psychoanalytic hobbyhorses (on which Negri has not a lot to say). But I admit that thanks to the sometimes surprising twists in Dufourmentelle's interview tactics, themes weave their threads across the whole length of the book, creating a coherent, multifaceted image of Negri's thinking and biography. Definitely recommended.
