Deleuze and Guattari on the French Revolution: Problems, Universal Minority, and the Bourgeoisie

Abstract: This article explores Deleuze and Guattari's theory of revolution in light of their comments on the French Revolution and intersection with the work of Marx. I argue that Deleuze associates revolution with a reformulation of the "problems" that condition experience, something Deleuze and Guattari then complicate through their insistence that institutional practice remain subject to the unfolding of an "indeterminate" yet collective revolutionary identity. I argue that the most important aspect of their theory for contemporary political thought is its argument for the necessity of uniting disparate forms of political experimentation without introducing institutions grounded in general conceptions of the subject, and conclude by discussing the emphasis they place on overcoming the "cogito of communication," a discursive "subject in general" essential to contemporary capitalist democracies.