A landmark work from one of our leading political theorists A sympathetic critique that attempts to free Left politics from its own snares, States of Injury explores how woundedness became a basis for contemporary political identity. Without condemning identity politics, Wendy Brown carefully probes the varied historical forces generating them today and the ways these formative conditions constrain emancipatory desire. Along the way, she advances a novel feminist critical theory of liberalism and the liberal democratic state. She also develops an original theoretical practice that weaves together Nietzsche, Marx, Weber, Foucault, and cultural theories of gender and race to analyze contemporary political predicaments. In a new preface, Brown places States of Injury in political and intellectual context, including the rise of neoliberalism, and addresses the book’s renewed relevance in today’s political landscape. "Wendy Brown undertakes a critical analysis of late modern state power to reveal how identity politics translated into rights claims. . . . [This study] significantly advances our understanding of aspects of politics where particular identities and universal rights are currently in conflict." ― American Political Science Review Praise for Wendy Brown “One of the most original political theorists writing today.” —Robert Gooding-Williams, Columbia University “The great radical theorist of democracy of our time.” —Cornel West, Union Theological Seminary “There is no one who has such an acute eye for the structural perversities of American politics.” —Anne Norton, University of Pennsylvania “Our most astute and far-reaching political anatomist.” —Nikhil Pal Singh, New York University “The most important theorist of her generation.” —Kathryn Lofton, Yale University Wendy Brown is the UPS Foundation Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study. Her books include Nihilistic Times , In the Ruins of Neoliberalism , and Undoing the Demos.