Theorematics, Problematization, and Axiomatics in the Work of Deleuze and Guattari

This article explores three distinct approaches to politics identified by Deleuze and Guattari. I argue that they consistently privilege a ‘problematic’ approach entailing individuals and associations establishing norms on the basis of the potential they possess within a concrete situation, and that this implies resistance to both the ‘theorematic’ politics they associate with statist philosophy and struggles aiming to alter the ‘axiomatic’ determination induced by global forces of capital. While this resistance necessarily proceeds in relation to established notions of identity and value, it must also do more than aim for the establishment of particular institutional ‘constants,’ including particular democratic procedures and human rights.