Vanguardia ― Socially Engaged Art and Theory

The avant garde is dead, or so the story goes for many leftists and capitalists alike. But in an era of neoliberal austerity, neocolonial militarism and ecological crisis, this postmodern view seems increasingly outmoded. Rejecting 'end of ideology' post-politics, Vanguardia delves into the changing praxis of socially engaged art and theory in the age of the Capitalocene. Covering the major events of the last decade, from anti-globalisation protests, Occupy Wall Street, the Maple Spring, Strike Debt and the Anthropocene, to the Black Lives Matter and MeToo campaigns, Vanguardia puts forward a radical leftist commitment to the revolutionary consciousness of avant-garde art and politics.

Marc James Leger is an independent scholar living in Montreal. He is editor of The Idea of the Avant Garde - And What It Means Today and author of Brave New Avant Garde, The Neoliberal Undead, Drive in Cinema and Don't Network.