163 Chapter 10 Towards a Politics of Love by Way of Resistance Jeff Robbins In his book On Resistance, Howard Caygill offers a defiant philosophical reflection on resistance that refuses to reduce the practice of resistance to any single concept, practice or project. 1 He accomplishes this by adopting three strategies. First, he examines how the concept of resistance has been typically framed – and as such, delimited – most notably in terms of subjec- tivity and consciousness. Second, he develops a typology of resistance by examining various historical resistance movements. Third, he explores the connections between resistance to other concepts such as reform, revolution, insurrection and repression. The work is impressive by its historical breadth, cross-cultural comparisons and theoretical nuance. And throughout Caygill follows the maxim first offered by Michel Foucault in The History of Sexual- ity that ‘where there is power, there is resistance’. 2 It is in this way that his philosophical reflection on resistance is itself resistant. Not only is there no single concept for resistance that fully exhausts its capacity, but even more significantly, there is no pure act of resistance. Instead, resistance happens within a reciprocal play of power; it is always already a counter-resistance operating within an already established context of opposed forces. Caygill’s critical analysis of seminal thinkers on the concept and practice of resistance is astute and, at times, quite surprising. For instance, while both Nietzsche and Marx still frame their understanding of resistance in the terms of a philosophy of subjectivity, the contrast he draws between them is an important one. For Nietzsche, resistance is seen exclusively as an expression of ressentiment driven by the desire for revenge. While Marx emphasizes the affirmative character of resistance and sees resistance as being more inven- tive than reactive, with a capacity not only to bring about a new political con- sciousness but also a more expansive political form and a more welcoming political community. Likewise, Caygill articulates the contrast between Lenin 16028-0087d-1pass-r01.indd 163 26-07-2017 15:11:04