DAVID AMES CURTIS

From: David Curtis [mailto:davidamescurtis@hotmail.com] 
Sent: 31 August 2017 16:35
To: Oliver Gadsby; Linda Ganster; Sarah Campbell; Isobel Cowper-Coles; Dhara Snowden; Holly Tyler; Rebecca Anastasi
Subject: Please Cease Immediately All Distribution of Your Book Ricoeur and Castoriadis

Dear Rowman & Littlefield International:

Please cease immediately all distribution of your book Ricoeur and Castoriadis in Discussion On Human Creation, Historical Novelty, and the Social Imaginary http://www.rowmaninternational.com/book/ricoeur_and_castoriadis_in_discussion/3-156-fd5e1016-0462-473e-a654-fedd1d78bbf2

Editor Suzi Adams and Johann Arnason, who wrote the Preface, should have informed you that there is an ongoing, unresolved labor dispute around the publication of the works of Cornelius Castoriadis in English-language translation.  I am owed several thousands of dollars for translation work I completed under contract for publication, but Castoriadis's widow and daughter and their Association Cornelius Castoriadis, after engaging me to do this work (I was a close collaborator and a friend of Castoriadis for the final thirteen years of his life, translating and editing more than a million words of his writings), broke off all contact precisely at the moment when an agreement was reached among all parties to move forward together.  This is a classic case of bad-faith negotiation.

See "8-Point Agreement Drafted by Zoe Castoriadis and David Ames Curtis" https://www.kaloskaisophos.org/rt/rtdac/8-pointagreement.html and "Letter to Sparta Castoriadis from David Ames Curtis" https://www.kaloskaisophos.org/rt/rtdac/5viii03.html as well as Castoriadis's written appreciation of me and my work https://www.kaloskaisophos.org/rt/rtdac/rtdac.html#LETTER

The only proper, professionally ethical thing to do is to inform the Castoriadis heirs and their Association Cornelius Castoriadis that this book will not be released and distributed before they come back to the bargaining table and resolve all outstanding issues.  

It is not worth it for your publishing firm to subject itself to international opprobrium.  You must cease all distribution of this scab translation right now in order to avoid a permanent black mark on your company's reputation.  A copy of this letter will be posted online, along with any response (or a notation of a failure to respond), so that everyone will know how you handle this scandal you have been brought into either willingly or without your knowledge.   The best thing, in cases like this, companies now know, is to get out in front of the problem and avoid further embarrassment. Cover-ups and avoidance only compound the discredit that has been brought down upon you.

Please note that I have received word that this 1985 Ricoeur/Castoriadis radio discussion has been  translated from the French and edited anonymously as a public service in Postscript on Insignificancy, including More Interviews and Discussions on the Rising Tide of Insignificancy, followed by Six Dialogues, Four Portraits and Two Book Reviews. The .pdf of his second edition (August 2017) has been placed here: http://www.notbored.org/PSRTI.pdf 


The Anonymous Translator's Postscript to this second edition states (p. liii):

The present pirate translation, available in
the second edition of PSRTI, makes it possible for all English-speaking
people to read Castoriadis's radio dialogue with
Ricoeur without being obliged to have recourse to a scab
translation, which itself should be boycotted by all if the
publishers do indeed bring it out next month. The six
academic contributors listed above are urged to make their
texts available online (e.g., on academia.edu, as Adams has
already done) so that no one will be forced to buy a scab
translation simply to participate in the free exchange of ideas.

Looking forward to your response.  It would be all to your credit not only to cease distribution but to write to Mme Castoriadis and urge her and her association to resume negotiations in good faith.

Sincerely,

David Ames Curtis