It is not very often that reading a book leaves us with a feeling that something in us has changed. Yet, there are many testimonies to this experience when it comes to reading Judith Butler. Butler's texts seem to have the power to challenge us profoundly and coax us into thinking differently. The seemingly simple question that hovers over the pages of this book is: how is this possible? What do Butler's texts do to their readers? What do they perform on us? Moreover, what is it about these texts that incites us into thinking that there is something about the world that needs to be remade, done differently?

Given that Butler's thought is shaped by the registers, questions and frames largely taken from philosophy, its inherent political impetus is a continual source of puzzlement. All comprehensive studies of her work show full awareness of its entanglement with the political. Situating Butler's thought at the crossroads of gender and queer theory, Sara Salih (2002), Vicki Kirby (2006), Moya Lloyd (2007) and Gill Jagger (2008) all put strong emphasis on the political power of the performative. Elena Loizidou (2007) was the first to discuss Butler's work in the triad of ethics, politics and law, Samuel Chambers and Terrell Carver (2008) present Butler as a significant political thinker, while Birgit Schippers (2014) defines her work as belonging to an emerging field of international political philosophy. Butler, however, complicates straightforward definitions. She has adamantly claimed that she has not produced a specific conception of the political: ‘I am sure I do not have “a conception of the politi-cal”. I am not sure one needs to have such a conception in order to think about politics or even to engage politically’ (Ingala 2017: 26). In addition, on many occasions she has insisted on important differences between theory and politics.

Taking these cues into account, this book aims to capture an almost paradoxical dynamic of philosophy and politics that gives shape to Butler's thought. Urging us to question even the most basic experiences, philosophy interrupts business as usual, arrests us mid-stream, forces us to stop and question, and to sometimes remain in question.