Each year an eruption of "leaderless" social movements leaves external observers and activists perplexed. Why have the movements, which address the needs and desires of so many, not been able to achieve lasting change? In Assembly, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri analyze potential paths for creating a more democratic and just society.

Preface Part I: The Leadership Problem Chapter 1: Where Have All the Leaders Gone? Chapter 2: Strategy and Tactics of the Centaur Chapter 3: Contra Rousseau, or, Pour en Finir avec la Souveraineté Chapter 4: The Dark Mirror of Right-Wing Movements Chapter 5: The Real Problem Lies Elsewhere Part II: The Social Production of the Multitude Chapter 6: How to Open Property to the Common Chapter 7: We, Machinic Subjects Chapter 8: Weber in Reverse Chapter 9: Entrepreneurship of the Multitude Part III: Financial Command and Neoliberal Governance Chapter 10: Finance Captures Social Value Chapter 11: Money Institutionalizes a Social Relation Chapter 12: Neoliberal Administration Out of Joint Part IV: New Prince Chapter 13: Political Realism Chapter 14: Impossible Reformism Chapter 15: And Now What? Chapter 16: Portolan Notes Index

"This is an important new statement from two of the most creative thinkers on the left." -- Jedediah Purdy, author of After Nature: A Politics for the Anthropocene "Are you ready for democracy? Assembly argues: don't be scared to remake it. Disturbing the tendency of resistance struggles to become hamstrung by a poverty of organization, Hardt and Negri throw question after question at left political habits and traditions of thought, imagining a New Prince from the multitude and new tools for self-governance. Some of their many propositions may seem questionable and some viscerally right, but all are thoughtful, potentially revelatory, fuel." -- Lauren Berlant, author of Cruel Optimism "This is an impressive, full-fledged pars construens, theoretically sophisticated and politically plausible. Assembly is the crown jewel of an immensely influential production that every cosmopolitan critical thinker simply has to confront. One may disagree with Hardt and Negri, but the motivation for disagreement becomes more and more difficult, one masterpiece after the other." -- Ugo Mattei, author of Plunder: When the Rule of Law is Illegal "A smart and in-depth examination of Marxist politics for a new century... [Assembly] is a fascinating, challenging theoretical journey into a future beyond capitalism."--Publishers Weekly "A combination of insightful analysis grounded in Marxism and a reasoned look at organizing in the social reality defined by neoliberal capitalism, Assembly is a highly recommended read."--CounterPunch "The authors do an excellent job of highlighting the internal challenges that a resurgent left will face. Every new left risks degenerating into sectarian conflict, heavy-handed leadership, and complacency about its own righteousness. Hardt and Negri insist on a self-critical and internally democratic left that never ceases to call its own assumptions into question. In order to transform society, the left must first transform itself."--Los Angeles Review of Books

Selling point: Proposes how contemporary social movements can better harness power to effect lasting change Selling point: Challenges the assumption that social movements must return to traditional, centralized forms of political leadership Selling point: Provides a new analysis of the dominance of finance and money Selling point: Advocates social unionism, or mixing labor organizing with social movements

Michael Hardt teaches at Duke University, where he is director of the Social Movements Lab. Antonio Negri has taught at the University of Padua and University of Paris VIII. They are best known for the Empire trilogy: Empire (2000), Multitude (2004), and Commonwealth (2009). They are also authors most recently of Declaration (2012).

Selling point: Proposes how contemporary social movements can better harness power to effect lasting change Selling point: Challenges the assumption that social movements must return to traditional, centralized forms of political leadership Selling point: Provides a new analysis of the dominance of finance and money Selling point: Advocates social unionism, or mixing labor organizing with social movements