Dark Theories: Philosophy after Postmodernism

What comes after postmodernism? Dmitry Khaustov argues that with the passing of figures such as Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, and Gilles Deleuze, postmodern philosophy reached the limits of its own project. Having exhausted its critique of modernity, philosophy was compelled to venture into unfamiliar intellectual territory. This is the realm of what Khaustov calls "dark theory."
Its subjects are no longer centered on the human alone. Instead, they include animals, microbes, fungi, bacteria, the depths of the ocean, outer space, cyberculture, and the many forms of nonhuman, posthuman, and even anti-human existence. Beyond the fading light of the Enlightenment, contemporary philosophy confronts a world in which human beings are no longer the unquestioned measure of reality.
Blending philosophy with literature, cinema, music, and visual culture, Khaustov guides readers through the ideas of influential contemporary thinkers, including Bruno Latour, Donna Haraway, Quentin Meillassoux, Graham Harman, Nick Land, and Reza Negarestani. Along the way, he draws unexpected connections between speculative realism, ecological thought, cyberpunk, horror fiction, experimental music, and film—from H. P. Lovecraft and Philip K. Dick to David Cronenberg, Lars von Trier, Black Mirror, and Alien.
Both an introduction to contemporary continental philosophy and a cultural map of the posthuman turn, Dark Theories invites readers to explore the intellectual landscapes that have emerged beyond postmodernism and to ask what, if anything, awaits us in the darkness beyond familiar ways of thinking.

Dmitry Khaustov. Dark Theories: Philosophy after Postmodernism. — Moscow: Lyod, 2026.
Publisher's page