This book sets out to provide a summary of contemporary thought on the left of the political spectrum. Most of the thinkers covered stand in some sort of relationship to Marx, although by no means all would describe themselves as Marxist. Working through writers and thinkers such as Zizek, Jameson, Badiou Keucheyan works through the main strands of theory from the status of the subject to imperialism.

What it might lack in depth it certainly makes up for in breadth, and if not perhaps comprehensive it is certainly a great basic introduction to many of the strands of modern critical thinking.

This is a brisk, occasionally frustrating, occasionally very illuminating history of Marxism since the sixties or so, with an emphasis on French culture's take on the subject. I kind of fell for the subtitle, thinking this would be about theory more broadly, but Keucheyan takes the Marxist perogative to take the broadest definition of a word and make it all about Marxism-- so "critical thinking" means Marxist thought, and contemporary theory is all Marxist, anyhow. And post-structuralism is really Marxist, except when it's not, etc.

So I found that kind of annoying. But within that frame of all loads leading to Captial (or Grundisse, as is often the case here), I found a lot to like-- his explanation of Zizek toward the end of the book is lucid and clear enough for my better undergrads to follow, and really, his taxonomy of approaches has a lot of recommend it more generally. I felt like I learned a lot, mostly about Marxist disagreements, it's true, but those are as interesting as anything else, really.

So, a good book, though probably not indispensable, and not what the subtitle recommends-- something much narrower than that.

A great book that gives a good account of Critical Theory and its various strains of thought. It places them in their historical context in relation to Classical Marxism and the changes natures of these theories in respect to Class, Sex, Race, and importantly geographical origin. It could be better on the ecological question but the author themselves admits there is a dearth of theory on the environment.

Left Hemisphere: Mapping Contemporary Theory Today is a robust survey of critical theory in the 20th and early 21st century. Principally, Razmig Keucheyan traces the developments in Marxist thought, anti-Marxist thought, and emancipatory theory and the way those developments underpin the work of critical theory. The scope of Keucheyan’s survey is quite impressive. In addition to exploring the “defeat” of critical theory, Keucheyan summarizes the work of significant figures who do critical theory in the 20th and 21st century. In this respect, Left Hemisphere: Mapping Contemporary Theory Today is an encyclopedia of critical theory; however, I would recommend future editions identify each theorist by name in the table of contents. The edition I read does not do this, and while I could see myself returning to particular sections before reading a new theorist, the difficulty in finding those theorists would pose a frustrating challenge.

This text is a little too intimidating to be a primer on critical theory, slightly out of date, and too brief to be exciting, but it is a success on its own terms. Having finished it, I possess a clear sense of the relationships between many popular critics, and my choices for further reading.

Good starting point. As a student I really appreciate it.
It's not comprehensive, but it is pretty dense and covers a lot of ground, serving as a good introduction for someone getting into critical theory on their own.

Unpretentious overview that has already aided my ability to understand the references in NLR articles.

It took me a while to get through but it was worth it. The author offers insightful and critical introductions to modern leftist thinkers, most of whom I'd never heard of before. It does a good job of introducing a wide range of critical theory to the reader, from theories of imperialism and cognitive capitalism to post-femininities and class consciousness. But the reader has to move on from there. This book just offers a solid nudge in the right direction.