John-Baptiste Oduor
John-Baptiste Oduor
Editor, Critic & Translator
I am Jacobin magazine's books editor but prior to this I completed a PhD in philosophy at the University of Essex on Hegel's philosophy of freedom. I write mainly about art, film and politics; sometimes, I translate from German to English in these areas.
My writing has appeared in Frieze, Nation, New York Review of Books, New Left Review, Guardian, Granta and other publications. A selection of some of my work can be found below.
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The Many Separations of Jürgen Habermas (1929-2026). (Art Review, March 2026)
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On Mike Kelley and American conceptual art: An Obstinate Commitment to Defeat (The New York Review, June 2025)
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On Ta-Nehisi Coates and Palestine: The Radicalization of Ta-Nehisi Coates (Jacobin, October 2024)
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On the photography of Debmalya Ray Choudhuri: The Weight of the World (Granta, July 2024)
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On Labour's foreign policy under Keir Starmer: Keir Starmer Will Make Britain Even More of a US Lapdog (Jacobin, July 2024)
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Review of Percival Everett's James and Cord Jefferson's American Fiction: Whatever That Means: The Duplicity of Percival Everett's Literary World (ArtReview, April 2024)
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The Politics of Black Figurative Art Today (Frieze, January 2024)
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On Frank Bowling: The Subject of Painting Is Paint (The Nation, January 2024)
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On British foreign policy: How Britain Became America's Stooge (Jacobin, November 2023)
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On Paul Gilroy: The Black Atlantic at 30: A Reappraisal (ArtReview, October 2023)
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On Alice Diop: Je ne sais pas (Sidecar, June 2023)
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On Carrie Mae Weems: Role Play (Sidecar, June 2023)
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On Steve McQueen: Steve McQueen's Grenfell Will Not Look Away (ArtReview, April 2023)
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Review of Stanley Cavell: The Shadows of Stanley Cavell (The Nation, October 2022)
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Obituary for Charles Mills: Red to Black (Sidecar, October 2021)
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Review of Philipp Felsch: How Leftist Theory Stopped Making Sense (Foreign Policy, September 2021
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Review of Adolph Reed Jr.: Segregation’s Sequiturs (New Left Review, July–August 2022 )
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On agrarian transition: Capitalism Is Not Natural (Tribune, June 2021)
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On Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Burnt Terracotta (Sidecar, April 2021)
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Review of Raymond Geuss: A Pragmatist Maverick (New Left Review, September–October 2020)