This compilation of texts sets out to introduce an analysis of the relationship between politics and aesthetics, starting from Jacques Rancière’s theory of democratic politics and his assertion that aesthetics is not an autonomous, politically neutral academic concern but is rather situated in a mutually dependent relation with the political act of community formation. A new essay by Rancière on ‘communities of sense’ grounds other contributions in the book, which explore the historical avant-garde as a model and consider its potential (re)mobilization in today’s globalized and mediatized world, as well as specific examples of identification/disidentification, political art and performance in the post 1968-context, and other issues. See in particular texts by Rancière ‘Contemporary Art and the Politics of Aesthetics’, T.J. Demos, Yates McKee, and the interview with Ètienne Balibar.