An international line-up of scholars examines the role of the intellectual in the twenty-first century, looking at the gap between contemporary cultural theory and cultural practice, and asking whether knowledge and methodologies in the humanities can intervene in everyday politics and vice-versa.

Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction: Commitment and Complicity; B.O.Firat, S.De Mul & S.van Wichelen PART I: RETHINKING COMMITMENT Commitment as a Non-Performative; S.Ahmed Commitment or Commitment-Kitsch? Rethinking the 'Woman Question', Agency, and Feminist Politics; S.van Wichelen 'Human' in the Age of Disposable People: the Ambiguous Import of Kinship and Education in Blind Shaft ; R.Chow PART II: COMMITMENT AND COMPLICITY IN THE PRODUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE The Middle East and the Disciplinary (Re)Production of Knowledge; A.Teti Empty Versatility and the Art of the Circular Reading; T.Brennan The Commitment to Face; M.Bal PART III: PUTTING COMPLICITY TO WORK The Necessity of 'Terror'; E.Boehmer Putting Complicity to Work for Accountability: An Australian Case Study; F.Probyn Layers of Labour in Cultural Production: Notes On Aesthetics and Commitment from the Transparent Factory; O.Comeron The Politics of 'Contemporary "Islamic" Art'; B.O.Firat Bibliography Index