Guide to the Etienne Balibar papers MS.C.023

Finding aid prepared by Audra Eagle Yun, 2012.
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
(cc) 2012
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California, Irvine
Irvine 92623-9557
spcoll@uci.edu


Contributing Institution: Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Title: Etienne Balibar papers
Creator: Balibar, Étienne
Identifier/Call Number: MS.C.023
Physical Description: 2.6 Linear Feet (8 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1963-2001
Abstract: This collection is comprised of manuscripts and research materials from philosopher and political theorist Etienne Balibar.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in French and English.

Access

The collection is open for research. Writings not authored by Etienne Balibar may not be photocopied or duplicated.

Publication Rights

Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

Preferred Citation

Etienne Balibar papers. MS-C023. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Etienne Balibar, 2012.

Processing History

This collection is minimally processed in order to facilitate access. It was arranged and described by Michelle Light in consultation with Etienne Balibar in 2012. Finding aid created and additions processed by Audra Eagle Yun in 2012.

Biography

Etienne Balibar is best known as a Marxist philosopher and political theorist focused on historical materialism, critical theory, ethics, and political philosophy. As a student of Louis Althusser at the École Normale Supérieure from 1960 to 1965, Balibar contributed to Althusser's collective theoretical work Reading Capital(1965). Major books written by Balibar include Spinoza and Politics (1985), Race, Nation, Class(with Immanuel Wallerstein, 1991), The Philosophy of Marx (1993), Politics and the Other Scene (2002), and We, the People of Europe? Reflections on Transnational Citizenship (2004).
Etienne Balibar was born in Avallon, Yonne, Bourgogne, France on April 23, 1942. He earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1962 and Diploma of Higher Studies in 1963 from the University of Paris (Sorbonne) while a student at the École Normale Supérieure. In 1987, he earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree, cum laude, from the Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen (Netherlands) for his dissertation entitled, "The infinite contradiction: elements of a philosophy in history."
Balibar received an habilitation from Université Paris I in 1993 and an honorary doctorate from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece) in 2005. Etienne Balibar is Professor Emeritus of moral and political philosophy at the University of Paris, Nanterre and was appointed Distinguished Professor of Humanities at the University of California, Irvine from 2000 to 2012.

Chronology

Chronology

1942 Etienne Balibar born in Avallon, Yonne, Bourgogne, France on April 23.
1960 Begins studies at Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, ending in 1965.
1961 Joins the French Communist Party
1962 Receives Bachelor of Philosophy degree from Sorbonne.
1963 Receives Diploma of Higher Studies under direction of Georges Canguilhem, Sorbonne.
1965 Joins the University of Algiers as Assistant, leaving in 1967.
  Publishes Lire le Capital (English translation, Reading Capital in 1970), a collection of essays developed by Louis Althusser and his students (Balibar, Roger Establet, Jacques Rancière, and Pierre Macherey) in a seminar on Karl Marx's Das Kapital.
1967 Joins the School of Savigny sur Orge as Professor, leaving in 1969.
1969 Joins the University of Paris I as Assistant, then Senior Lecturer, leaving in 1976.
1976 Joins Rijksuniversiteit Leiden you (Netherlands) as Wetenschappelijk Hoofdmedewerker, Faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid, leaving in 1977.
  Publishes Sur la dictature du prolétariat (English translation, On the Dictatorship of the Proletariat in 1977)
1977 Joins the University of Paris I as Senior Lecturer, leaving in 1994.
1981 Expelled from the French Communist Party for criticizing the party's attitudes towards immigration.
1985 Publishes Spinoza et la politique (English translation, Spinoza and Politics in 1998)
1987 Receives Ph.D. degree in Philosophy from Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen (Netherlands).
1988 Publishes Race, Nation, Classe (English translation as Race, Nation, Class in 1991).
1993 Publishes La philosophie de Marx (English translation, The Philosophy of Marx in 1995)
  Receives Habilitation from Université Paris I.
1994 Joins University of Paris, Nanterre as Professor.
  Publishes Masses, classes, ideas. Studies in politics and philosophy
2000 Becomes Distinguished Professor of Humanities at the University of California, Irvine.
2003 Publishes L'Europe, l'Amérique, la Guerre. Réflexions sur la médiation européenne
2002 Publishes Politics and the Other Scene
  Becomes Professor Emeritus at the University of Paris, Nanterre.
2004 Publishes We, the People of Europe? Reflections on Transnational Citizenship
2005 Receives honorary doctorate from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece).

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in 12 series:
  • Series 1. Work with Louis Althusser, 1963-1977
  • Series 2. "Ecole project," 1968-1971
  • Series 3. Communist Party writings, 1965-1977
  • Series 4. Personal reading notes, 1980-2000
  • Series 5. "Travaux, 1965-1987," for PhD at Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, circa 1987
  • Series 6. Ludwig Wittgenstein translation project, 1987-1989
  • Series 7. Habilitation, Universite de Paris I, 1992-1993
  • Series 8. La philosophie de Marx, after 1993
  • Series 9. Teaching seminars at Universite de Paris X Nanterre, 1995-1996, 2001
  • Series 10. "Passion profane," 1991-1992
  • Series 11. Writings, lecturess, and interviews, 1985-2012
  • Series 12. Scholarly journals, 2003-2011
The collection was arranged by the creator in consultation with Special Collections & Archives staff.

Collection Scope and Content Summary

This collection is comprised of manuscripts, typescripts, and research materials documenting Etienne Balibar's studies and research from 1963 to 2001. A student of Louis Althusser, Balibar is best known as a Marxist philosopher and political theorist focused on historical materialism, critical theory, ethics, and political philosophy. The collection contains research notes and writings during his work with Althusser in the 1960s and documents the structuralist and Marxist thought of this group. It also includes Balibar's writings as a member of the French Communist Party. Balibar's notes and writings on Baruch Spinoza, René Descartes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Ludwig Wittgenstein are also included, as are a variety of publications and lectures. The vast majority of the materials are in French.

Bibliography

For additional bibliographic and biographical information on Etienne Balibar, see:
"Etienne Balibar." UC Irvine - Faculty Profile System. UC Irvine, 11 Feb. 2008. Web. 02 Mar. 2012. http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=4809 .
"Balibar, Etienne." Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense. Department Philosophie. Web. 02 Mar. 2012. http://www.u-paris10.fr/16444241/0/fiche___pagelibre/ .
Yeghiayan, Eddie. Etienne Balibar. Etienne Balibar: A Bibliography. 1996. Web. 02 Mar. 2012. http://www.lib.uci.edu/about/publications/wellek/balibar/index.html .

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Critical theory -- Archives.
Critical theory -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- California -- Irvine
Philosophy, Marxist -- 20th century
Philosophers.
Philosophy, French -- 20th century
Balibar, Étienne
University of California, Irvine -- Archives

box 1

Work with Louis Althusser Series 1. 1963-1977

Physical Description: 6 folders

Scope and Content Summary

This series consists of notebooks that Balibar kept while a student of Louise Althusser at the École Normale Supérieure. The notebooks contain course materials, lecture notes, and writings. They include materials related to Reading Capital and the materialist theory of discourse. Also included are notes for a seminar by Althusser on Jacques Lacan.
box 1

"École" project Series 2. 1968-1971

Physical Description: 3 folders

Scope and Content Summary

This series consists of Balibar's notes, drafts, and typescripts for a manuscript on intellectual and manual labor that was never completed. In 1969-1970, in the wake of the student revolt and general strikes in France, the students closest to Althusser collaborated on an ambitious project to interpret class, domination, and its symbolism as determinations of the educational system ("Ecole", later called the typical "Ideological State Apparatus" by Althusser). Members of the project included Balibar, Christian Baudelot, Roger Establet, Pierre Macherey, and Michel Tort, each of whom planned to write one to two chapters for the manuscript. Balibar's focus was on intellectual and manual labor. The project collapsed around 1970, following the group's visit to teach summer school at the University of Havana, Cuba. Baudelot, Establet and Tort later published their chapters independently.
box 2

Communist Party writings Series 3. 1965-1977

Physical Description: 7 folders

Scope and Content Summary

This series consists of typescript drafts, notes, and other material related to Communism. Included are Balibar's writings from 1965 for the Communist student organization; articles and correspondence documenting a 1969 debate among Communist intellectuals and party leadership concerning education and teaching philosophy; and two of Balibar's lectures at the Centre D'Etudes et de Recherches Marxistes in 1975-1977.
box 2, box 3

Personal reading notes Series 4. 1980-2000

Physical Description: 8 folders

Scope and Content Summary

This series contains notes written by Balibar regarding his reading of works by Baruch Spinoza, René Descartes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and others.
box 3, box 4

"Travaux, 1965-1987," for Ph.D. at Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen Series 5. circa 1987

Physical Description: 5 folders

Scope and Content Summary

This series consists of all five sections of Balibar's dissertation.
box 4

Ludwig Wittgenstein project Series 6. 1987-1989

Physical Description: 3 folders

Scope and Content Summary

This series consists of translation materials, typescripts, and notes related to the philosophy and works of Wittgenstein. The series includes an unpublished translation of Wittgenstein's Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus into French (left unpublished because of copyright restrictions but distributed as teaching material to students at Paris I among others). At the same time, Balibar was working on a related book project regarding truth entitled "'Lieux' and 'Noms de la verite;'" uncompleted materials related to this project are included in the series.
box 5

Habilitation Series 7. 1992-1993

Physical Description: 3 folders

Scope and Content Summary

This series contains work submitted for the Habilitation at the University of Paris I.
box 5

La philosophie de Marx Series 8. after 1993

Physical Description: 1 folders

Scope and Content Summary

This series consists of notes and typescripts for Balibar's book The Philosophy of Marx.
box 5, box 6

Teaching seminars at Université de Paris X Nanterre Series 9. 1995-1996, 2001

Physical Description: 4 folders

Scope and Content Summary

This series consists of course materials, readings, and a course notebook for seminars taught by Balibar at the University of Paris, Nanterre.
box 6

"Passion profane" Series 10. 1991-1992

Physical Description: 5 folders

Scope and Content Summary

This series consists of readings, clippings, writings, and ephemera relating to Balibar's collaboration with musician Nicolas Frize (a former student of Jobn Cage) for the "Passion profane" project. The project incorporated "concrete music" with professional and non-professional musicians in a series of musical events with prisoners inside the prison of Saint-Maur (near Châteauroux, France). It also includes a conversation between Balibar and inmates of the prison regarding citizenship. The series includes a notebook kept by Balibar documenting the project.
box 7

Writings, lectures, and interviews Series 11. 1985-2012

Physical Description: 10 folders

Scope and Content Summary

This series comprises essays and lectures by and interviews with Balibar from 1985 to 2012. The materials include drafts and published writings, some with annotations by Balibar.

Arrangement

This series is arranged chronologically.
box 7, box 8

Scholarly journals Series 12. 2003-2011

Scope and Content Summary

This series consists of six issues of scholarly journals in which Balibar's writings were published.