I seem not to be able to post at The Kugelmass Episodes, so I’ll post a brief comment and pointer here to Joseph’s conference piece on Hegel. I am particularly interested in Joseph’s goal in the piece – itself, I think, a marker and expression of the shifting historical winds – which is to make:
a first step towards a politically and philosophically responsible recuperation of totality, though aesthetics, without a corresponding loss of difference.
When I feel a bit less foggy than I do at present, I’ll try to come back to this issue: reactions to the concept of totality, interpretations of what “totality” is, etc., have an interesting political and intellectual history, making it particularly important when someone revisits the concept in an interesting way. But I feel like I’m thinking through molasses at the moment, so I’ll just refer folks on to Joseph’s conference paper for an evening’s pleasant reading…
Rough Theory 
I’m so pleased that the paper is a useful point of departure for you.
I sincerely hope the winds are shifting with regard to our notion of totality, and look forward to reading your account of this.
It may be a while yet – I think I’ve figured out how to think about Adorno and suburban fringe development, but I’m not sure I can work Hegel into the mix, as well… ;-P
Seriously, though, I did enjoy the piece – it’s very difficult (at least, I find it very difficult) to talk about complex concepts at conferences – partially, I think, teaching makes me lazy: I get used to having a leisurely 13 weeks to unfold complex concepts, and I forget how to distill something useful down into such a brief and ephemeral form…