Michael Hardt (born 1960) is an American

political philosopher Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. This field investigates different forms of government, ranging from de ...

and

literary theorist Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mora ...

. Hardt is best known for his 2000 book ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'', which was co-written with

Antonio Negri Antonio Negri (; ; 1 August 1933 – 16 December 2023) was an Italian political philosopher known as one of the most prominent theorists of autonomism, as well as for his co-authorship of ''Empire (Hardt and Negri book), Empire'' with Michae ...

. Hardt and Negri suggest that several forces which they see as dominating contemporary life, such as

class oppression Oppression is malicious or unjust treatment of, or exercise of power over, a group of individuals, often in the form of governmental authority. Oppression may be overt or covert, depending on how it is practiced. No universally accepted model ...

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

and the commodification of services (or production of affects), have the potential to spark social change of unprecedented dimensions. A sequel, '' Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire'' was published in August 2004. It outlines an idea first propounded in ''Empire'', which is that of the

multitude Multitude or multitudes may refer to: *'' Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire'', a 2004 book by Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt * Multitude Media, a British public relations firm * Multitude SE, a payday lender based in Finland * ''M ...

as possible locus of a democratic movement of global proportions. The third and final part of the trilogy, ''Commonwealth'', was published in 2009.

Early life and education

Hardt attended Winston Churchill High School in Potomac,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. He studied engineering at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

from 1978 to 1983. In college during the

1970s energy crisis The 1970s energy crisis occurred when the Western world, particularly the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, faced substantial petroleum shortages as well as elevated prices. The two worst crises of this period wer ...

, he began to take an interest in alternative energy sources Talking about his college politics, he said, "I thought that doing alternative energy engineering for third world countries would be a way of doing politics that would get out of all this campus political posing that I hated. It seemed that way, but I was quickly disabused." During college, he worked for various

solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

companies. Hardt also participated, after college, in the Sanctuary Movement and later helped establish a project to bring donated computers from the United States and put them together for the

University of El Salvador The University of El Salvador (UES) is the oldest and the most prominent university institution in El Salvador. It serves as the national university of the country. The main campus, Ciudad Universitaria, is located in the capital of San Salvador ...

. Yet, he says that this political activity did more for him than it did for the Salvadorans. In 1983, he moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

to study

comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. While working on his PhD, Hardt began to translate Antonio Negri's book on

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...

, ''The Savage Anomaly'', in order to come into contact with him. He first met Negri in Paris in the summer of 1986 to discuss translation difficulties. After their meeting, Hardt decided to complete his graduate exams and move to Paris the following summer. He received an M.A. in 1986 and completed his dissertation on

Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze (18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes o ...

in 1990, with which he earned his PhD. After briefly teaching at the University of Southern California, Hardt began teaching in the Literature Program at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

in 1994. He is currently professor of Literature and Italian at Duke.

Thought

Hardt is concerned with the joy of political life, and has stated, "One has to expand the concept of love beyond the limits of the couple." The politics of the multitude is not solely about controlling the means of productivity or liberating one's own subjectivity. These two are also linked to love and joy of political life and realizing political goals. Hardt does not consider teaching a revolutionary occupation, nor does he think the college is a particularly political institution. "But thinking of politics now as a project of social transformation on a large scale, I'm not at all convinced that political activity can come from the university."Hardt, Smith, Minardi, "The Collaborator," 71 Hardt says visions of a public education and equal and open access to the university are gradually disappearing: the " war on terror" has promoted only limited military and technological knowledges, while the required skills of the biopolitical economy, "the creation of ideas, images, code, affects, and other immaterial goods" are not yet recognized as the primary key to economic innovation. Many of Hardt's works have been co-written with

Occupation movements of 2011–2012

In May 2012 Hardt and Negri self-published an electronic pamphlet on the occupation and encampment movements of 2011–2012 called '' Declaration'' that argues the movement explores new forms of democracy.

Publications

Books

Single-authored

*''Gilles Deleuze: an Apprenticeship in Philosophy'', , 1993 *''The Subversive Seventies,'' ISBN 978-0197674659, 2023

With Antonio Negri

*''Labor of Dionysus: a Critique of the State-form'', , 1994 *''

'', , 2000 *'' Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire'', , 2004 *''

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

'', , 2009 *'' Declaration'', , 2012 *''Assembly'', , 2017

Selected articles

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
“A Global War Regime”
with Sandro Mezzadra, ''Side Car'',

New Left Review The ''New Left Review'' is a British bimonthly journal, established in 1960, which analyses international politics, the global economy, social theory, and cultural topics from a leftist perspective. History Background As part of the emergin ...

, 09 May 2024.

Film appearances

* ''

Marx Reloaded ''Marx Reloaded'' is a 2011 German documentary film written and directed by the British writer and theorist Jason Barker. Featuring interviews with several well-known philosophers, the film aims to examine the relevance of Karl Marx's ideas in rel ...

'',

Arte Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...

, April 2011. * ''

Examined Life ''Examined Life'' is a 2008 Canadian documentary film directed by Astra Taylor about philosophers. The film has eight influential modern philosophers walking around New York City, New York and other metropolises, discussing the practical applicati ...

'', Sphinx Productions, 87 min., 2008. * '' Antonio Negri: A Revolt that Never Ends'',

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

, 52 min., 2004.

References

Works cited

* Hardt, Michael, Caleb Smith, and Enrico Minardi. "The Collaborator and the Multitude: An Interview with Michael Hardt." ''The Minnesota Review'' 61-62 (Spring/Summer 2004). 63–77. * Hardt, Michael. "How to Write With Four Hands." ''Genre'' 46.2 (2013). 175–182. * Vulliamy, Ed
"Empire hits back"
''The Guardian'', Sunday 15 July 2001. *

External links

Michael Hardt
at

*
Full text PDF

Interview/podcast with Michael Hardt about what role revolutions have today as spaces for new social creation
–

Radio Web MACBA Radio is the technology of telecommunication, communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

, 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardt, Michael 1960 births Living people People from Bethesda, Maryland People from Potomac, Maryland Autonomism American Marxists American political philosophers American communists American literary critics Imperialism studies Marxist theorists Libertarian Marxists Libertarian socialists Duke University faculty Academic staff of European Graduate School Swarthmore College alumni University of Washington alumni 20th-century American writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American philosophers Critics of work and the work ethic