Empire's New Clothes: Reading Hardt and Negri

Since its publication last year, Empire has come to dominate the academic world, stimulating debate and discussion throughout the humanities, social sciences, and into the mainstream media. The New York Times made outrageous claims about its importance, pointing to the "scholarly commotion" it has caused, and suggesting a book like this comes along only "once every decade or so" (July 7, 2001). Translation rights to Empire have been sold in ten countries already and the question has been raised whether Michael Hardt, one of the two authors, is the next Jacques Derrida.