What is the relation between politics and the world? It might seem that global capitalism has
created one world but this is an illusion because capitalism creates a world of objects and
money that divides human existence into regions separated by fences and walls built to keep
some people out. In place of this falsely unified world of global capitalism we need to assert
a fundamental principle - namely that there is one world of living subjects. This in Badiou's
view is the categorical imperative of all true politics. The one world of living subjects is
the place where an infinity of differences and identities exist. Hence foreigners are not a
problem but rather an opportunity and a gift. They bear witness to the youth of the world in
its infinite variety and it is with this youth that the politics of the future rests.
Foreignness is the means by which existence is re-evaluated and all true politics is a new
dawn of existence. This collection of essays by Badiou in which he draws out the political
implications of recent events and social movements will be of value to anyone interested in
the great social and political questions of our time.
