Étienne Balibar is one of the foremost living French philosophers. He holds positions as Anniversary Chair in Modern European Philosophy at Kingston University, Visiting Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of French and Italian and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Paris, Nanterre. He initially rose to prominence as the student-collaborator of Louis Althusser, co-editing with him the collection Reading Capital, a global landmark in Marxist philosophy. Since then, he has written dozens of books and hundreds of articles, being particularly known for his writings on race, Europe, Spinoza, and political thought more generally, including his well-regarded books on Marx and Locke.