“L’institution révolutionnaire”. On “Overthrow” Violence and Institution in Gilles Deleuze

Abstract

Deleuze uses l’institution révolutionnaire in his texts, certainly completely aware that this phrase has a quite chaotic and vague history during post-revolutionary periods, but also that it is perfectly in the spirit of Saint-Just’s intentions. We investigate whether this phrase best describes Deleuze’s imaginary theory of the institution, as well as his engagement with the theory more generally. The preliminary difficulty, which immediately questions and devalues such a commentary, is Deleuze’s own refusal to thematize the institution and his own effort, and thus actually answer his own questions from the 1950s: what is it that explains the institution? And what should perfect institutions be like, that is, ones opposed to all agreement, and which suppose a minimum of laws? Deleuze’s carelessness and effectively his abandonment of his own early attempt at thinking the institution, could possibly mark his intuition and recognition that the thematization of the institution is, as of yet, an impossible task.