Robespierre's defense of the French Revolution remains one of the most powerful and perplexing justifications for political violence ever written. His reflections resonate remarkably today, as our historical moment was ushered in by the 2001 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers.
Yet, despite the fact that the discourse of terrorism horrifies contemporary society, the French Revolution is celebrated as the event that gave rise to a nation built on the principles of "liberty, equality, and fraternity." But how should we address the vindication of revolutionary terror without accepting present-day terrorism, or vice versa? Žižek explores these contradictions and paradoxes in a brilliant commentary on these texts by Robespierre, shedding new light on the contemporary world.
