Why Vote?

Alain Badiou, one of France’s premiere philosophers and public intellectuals, recently wrote a column in Le Monde commenting on the current French election. After he runs through characteristics and relative merits of the top four contenders, he comes to an ironic conclusion: there is no reason to vote. 

Badiou believes that voting within the capitalist system simply re-enforces that system’s conservative and oppressive hegemony. Instead, Badiou argues for a “re-invention” of politics. For Badiou, this means resurrecting communism as a viable alternative to modern Western conservative-liberal politics.

Read David Broder’s translation of Badiou’s argument on Verso Book’s website: http://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3167-vote-or-reinvent-politics