Deleuze and Slowness

Focusing on the concept of slowness in Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy, this book diverges from the conventional interpretation of Deleuze as a philosopher of speed or even accelerationism, instead delving into the minor but critical themes in his works, from idiocy to catatonia. Advocating for a pragmatic reading of its source material, it utilises Deleuze’s thought to address the urgent challenges in contemporary political and social philosophy, particularly the issue of acceleration in its subjective, socio-political, and ecological dimensions.

The first part discusses the significance of analysing “slowness” and introduces the problem of social acceleration, featuring also the relationship of Deleuze’s thought with theorists rarely invoked in Deleuzian scholarship, such as Martha Nussbaum or Hartmut Rosa. Using a wide range of examples and sources such as the lesser explored Deleuzian literary inspiration Heinrich von Kleist and Madame de La Fayette, the second part of the book delves deeper into the three manifestations of slowness in Deleuze’s philosophy: the conceptual personae of the idiot, the animal, and the catatonic. These personae and the concepts they help develop are explored as potential strategies of active resistance against the facets of social acceleration.

With this book that radically opposes today’s enamourment with speed and efficiency, Krzysztof Skonieczny shows how a Deleuzian theory of slowness can inspire productive resistance in the three areas that have been most vulnerable to omnipresent acceleration: our subjectivity, profoundly changed by the accelerating pace of life; our socio-political milieu, ruled by corporate efficiency; and our relationship to the environment, quickly heading towards catastrophe.