History of Shit

Written in Paris after the days of student revolt in May 1968 and before the devastation of the AIDS epidemic, this book is emblematic of a wild and adventurous strain of 1970s theoretical writing that attempted to marry theory, politics, sexuality, pleasure, experimentation and humour. Debunking all humanist mythology about the grandeur of civilization, the book suggests instead that the management of human waste is crucial to our identities as modern individuals - including the organization of the city, the rise of the nation-state, the development of capitalism, and the mandate for clean and proper language.

Far from rising above the muck, Dominique Laporte argues, we are thoroughly mired in it, particularly when we appear our most clean and hygienic.