New formations 58 is devoted to two major, but very different interventions into the politics of culture. The first focuses on current work by the philosopher Etienne Balibar on the role of borders and frontiers in enforcing conceptual as well as physical limits upon political democracy. It includes a wide-ranging conversation between Balibar and political theorist Sandro Mezzadra, together with a series of responses to this interview that take up the topics of Europe, citizenship and civility. The second section addresses the continuing importance of Richard Dyer's 1979 gay left article "In Defense of Disco", reprinting the original essay and looking at its implications for contemporary cultural history and cultural theory. Other essays examine Slavoj Zizek's brand of ideology critique; history, fiction and postmodern theory; and the representation of the everyday in British Asian cinema.
