DOCSLIB.ORG

Polity New Books January-June 2019 About Polity

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Polity New Books January-June 2019 About Polity polity new books january-june 2019 About Polity Polity is a leading international publisher in the social sciences and humanities and we publish some of the world’s best authors in these fields. Polity’s goal is to combine the publication of original, cutting-edge books of the highest quality with a systematic program of textbooks and course content for students and scholars in higher education. Many of our books in politics, current affairs, history and biography are of interest to a wide general readership. We are committed to publishing outstanding books which stimulate public debate about key issues in social, political and cultural life. Our Publishing Program The Polity list is particularly strong in politics, sociology, philosophy and social and political theory. We also have strong and growing lists in history, media and cultural studies, literary studies, gender studies, health and social care, anthropology, environmental studies, economics and related fields. We are committed to the diffusion of ideas across cultures and language barriers, a commitment expressed through the major translation program that is a core part of the Polity publishing enterprise. Among the many world-renowned authors we translate are Pierre Bourdieu, Jürgen Habermas, T.W. Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Norbert Elias, Ulrich Beck, Niklas Luhmann, Peter Sloterdijk, Axel Honneth, Hans Fallada, Primo Levi, Giorgio Agamben, Antonio Negri, Jacques Derrida, Roland Barthes, Paul Ricoeur, Jacques Lacan, Bruno Latour, Jean Baudrillard, Paul Virilio, Alain Badiou, Slavoj Žižek, Jacques Rancière, Catherine Malabou, Hélène Cixous, Pascal Bruckner, Bernard Stiegler, Jacques Le Goff, Serge Gruzinski, Paul Veyne and Élisabeth Roudinesco. Polity’s History Established in 1984, Polity has grown rapidly into one of the world’s most prestigious lists, publishing over 150 titles each year. We are an independent company with offices in Cambridge and Oxford in the UK, and Boston and New York in the US. Our books are available throughout the world under the Polity imprint. Sales representation and distribution of Polity titles are provided by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., worldwide. VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.POLITYBOOKS.COM Polity books are distributed worldwide by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Cover image: Carnation Revolution by Adres General Interest .............................................................................................................................................. 2 See p.12 Philosophy ................................................................................................................................................................ 34 Politics ................................................................................................................................................................................. 37 Sociology ..................................................................................................................................................................... 49 Media and Communications .................................................................................. 56 Hardbacks at paperback prices ........................................................................ 58 See p.9 Index ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 61 Distribution, sales and marketing contacts .................... 63 See p.27 CONTENTS 1 A passionate defence of liberal values in our increasingly polarized world Against Hate CAROLIN EMCKE Translated by Tony Crawford Racism, extremism, anti-democratic sentiment – our increasingly polarized world is dominated by a type of thinking that doubts others’ positions but never its own. In a powerful challenge to fundamentalism in all its forms, Carolin Emcke, one of Germany’s leading intellectuals, argues that we can only preserve individual freedom and protect people’s rights by cherishing and celebrating diversity. If we want to safeguard democracy, we must have the courage to challenge hatred and the will to fight for and defend plurality in our societies. Emcke rises to the challenge that fake news and populist narratives pose, exposing the way in which they simplify and distort our perception of the world. Against Hate is an impassioned call to fight intolerance and defend liberal ideals. It is a must-read for anyone concerned about the darkening politics of our time and searching for ways out. 216 x 138mm | 192 pages | January 2019 CAROLIN EMCKE is a prominent journalist, academic and author. Between HB | 978-1-5095-3195-0 1998 and 2006 she reported for Der Spiegel from some of the world’s most £50.00 | $64.95 | €65.90 troubled regions including Afghanistan, Columbia, Gaza, Iraq and Pakistan. PB | 978-1-5095-3196-7 She was also Guest Lecturer in Political Theory at Yale University in 2003-4. £15.99 | $19.95 | €20.90 Her significant contribution to public debate and intellectual life has been ebook available recognized with many awards, including the Otto Brenner Prize for Critical Journalism, the Lessing Prize and, in 2016, the Peace Prize of the German Publishers’ Association, Germany’s most prestigious literary award. “With exemplary lucidity, passion, and brevity, Carolin Emcke anatomises a toxic political emotion – and the many insidious, even benign, forms it increasingly assumes in public life. Against Hate is an urgent and necessary book, and all those who seek a way out of our current impasse should read it.” – Pankaj Mishra “At a time when all over the globe, groups have mobilized around hatred of strangers, foreigners, migrants and refugees, Emcke analyzes with subtlety and psychological precision the hearts and minds of those who hate. A must-read for understanding the rise of right-wing populist movements in contemporary Europe in particular.” – Seyla Benhabib, Yale University “Carolin Emcke responds to the resurgence of hatred by grounding democracy in the vulnerability of the individual.” – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 2 GENERAL INTEREST A bold program to defend and renew liberal democracy Defending Freedom How We Can Win the Fight for an Open Society RALF FÜCKS Translated by Nick Somers Confidence in democratic institutions and mainstream political parties is fast eroding, with people increasingly drawn towards the rhetoric of populist demagogues and authoritarian leaders. What are the roots of this crisis and how can it be countered? In this new book, leading Green politician and thinker Ralf Fücks argues that our failure to defend democracy has led to the encroachment of an illiberal and divisive politics. In a powerful counter, Fücks outlines the foundations for an ambitious democratic renewal: greater investment in the public institutions; a focus on education; the promotion of a democratic patriotism; a better understanding of how to increase participation in the emerging digital economy; and sustainable innovation to unleash the creative potential of liberal societies. 216 x 138mm | 240 pages | June 2019 This robust defense of liberal democracy will be essential reading for anyone HB | 978-1-5095-3623-8 concerned about the very real threat faced by our democratic freedoms today £50.00 | $64.95 | €65.90 and wondering what we can do about it. PB | 978-1-5095-3624-5 £15.99 | $22.95 | €20.90 RALF FÜCKS is Co-Founder of the Centre for Liberal Modernity, a non-partisan ebook available organization that stands up for the defense and renewal of open society and looks for answers to the key challenges of our time. Formerly President of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, he was a leading figure in the German Green Party and Senator for Environment and Urban Development in Bremen. “Defending Freedom is an elegant, eminently readable book that goes to the heart of contemporary political tensions afflicting much of the Western world. It is a robust defense of the liberal tradition at a time when anti-liberal forces seem to be ascendant.” – Daniel Hamilton, Johns Hopkins University “Defending Freedom is one of the most considered and substantial diagnoses currently available of the anti-liberal forces threatening our world today. Essential reading.” – Neue Zürcher Zeitung “This is an outstanding guide to our current situation, and proof once again of Fücks’s position as a pioneering green thinker.” – Deutschlandradio Kultur GENERAL INTEREST 3 Trump ALAIN BADIOU The election of Donald Trump sent shockwaves across the globe. How was such an outcome even possible? And how can we move beyond the deep crisis of Western democracy that the election of Trump represents? Alain Badiou argues that Trump’s election was symptomatic of a global crisis based on the triumph of a brutal form of global capitalism, the decomposition of the established political elite, the growing frustration that many people feel today, and the absence of a compelling alternative vision. In this context Trump emerged, a member of the Republican Party who also represented something outside the system – sexism, racism and a tendency toward fascism. The progressive challenge is to offer people a real choice, a radical alternative based on principles of universality and equality. This concise account of the meaning of Trump should be read by everyone who 190 x 124mm | 80 pages | March 2019 wants to understand what is happening in our world today. HB | 978-1-5095-3607-8 ALAIN BADIOU is a writer, philosopher and an Emeritus Professor at the École £35.00 | $45.00 | €44.90
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Physiology, Cybernetics, Humanistic Systems in Ergonomics a Dissertation SUBMITTED to the FACULTY of T
    Care of the Machine Self: Physiology, Cybernetics, Humanistic Systems in Ergonomics A dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESTOTA BY: Mark A. Martinez IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIERMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Ronald Walter Greene January 2013 © Mark A. Martinez 2014 i Acknowledgements There are numerous people to whom I am grateful for their support during this arduous process. Thank you to Dr. Kyle Stine, who welcomed me either at The Foxhead or Georges, where there were no shortage of whiskey or ideas. I thank my oldest and dearest friend Juan Linz who, either in person, by phone or by text, sent positive energy my way. To Dr. Matthew Bost who I thank for being my closest “theory-head” confidant in our department, and who pushed me to know more through his own excellence. To my entire committee I thank you for your efforts and feedback. Thank you Dr. Donald Browne for stepping up to my committee and contributing on such short notice—and thank you for letting me meet my future wife in your Mass Communication course. Thank you Dr. Rembert Hueser for giving me access to another body of literature, another community of scholars, another direction for me to take, and ultimately in my opinion, another way to try to become a better person through philosophy. I thank Dr. Ronald Walter Greene for giving me a communication scholar to look up to. Thank you for having patience with slow work and tolerance for strange tangents. Thank you for producing nothing but generosity and productive guidance that showed me you truly have love for thinking anew.
    [Show full text]
  • Register at 30 May 2013
    REGISTER OF INTERESTS OF MEMBERS’ SECRETARIES AND RESEARCH ASSISTANTS (As at 30 May 2013) INTRODUCTION Purpose and Form of the Register In accordance with Resolutions made by the House of Commons on 17 December 1985 and 28 June 1993, holders of photo-identity passes as Members’ secretaries or research assistants are in essence required to register: • Any occupation or employment for which they receive over £330 from the same source in the course of a calendar year, if that occupation or employment is in any way advantaged by the privileged access to Parliament afforded by their pass. • Any gift (eg: jewellery) or benefit (eg: hospitality, services or facilities) they receive in the course of a calendar year, if the value of the gift or benefit exceeds £330 and if it in any way relates to or arises from their work in Parliament. In Section 1 of the Register entries are listed alphabetically according to the staff member’s surname. Section 2 contains exactly the same information but entries are instead listed according to the sponsoring Member’s name. Administration of the Register The Register is compiled and maintained by the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. Anyone whose details are entered on the Register is required to notify that office of any change in their registrable interests within 28 days of such a change arising. An updated edition of the Register is usually published every 4-6 weeks when the House is sitting. Changes to the rules governing the Register are determined by the Committee on Standards, although where such changes are substantial they are put by the Committee to the House for approval before being implemented.
    [Show full text]
  • Remake Remodel
    This is the new version of s���. Since the most recent issue, no. 29–30 (2010), we have had to cope with the diffi cult problem of having our funding from the Swedish Cultural Council reduced Remake by two thirds. While for decades this government body has been )VNCPMEU a major and generous source for Swedish cultural journals, and 6OJWFSTJUZ has made it possible for a small country like Sweden to sustain a JOSVJOT 1IPUP Remodel highly diverse publication ecology, recent shifts seem to intro- )BOT(OUIFS duce a diff erent policy. 2VBTDIJOTLZ The drastic cuts were made for reasons that to us appeared obscure: the offi cial explanation cannot be deemed as anything but intellectually vacuous — the funding was cut down because of the journal’s “low quality,” a judgment not accompanied by any further exemplifi cations or explanations. Since then we have been forced to remake and remodel our way of working, which as such need not be a negative thing. Instead of publishing in a tabloid format, we have switched to a more book-like format that makes it possible to continue inter- national distribution in a more effi cient way, and in the end hopefully makes the journal easier to buy for readers inside, as well as outside, of Sweden. s��� will henceforth be available from most Internet booksellers, selected bookstores, and will be easy to order in those who will not keep us in stock. The necessity of remaking and remodeling is however not restricted to journals. In recent years the European univer- sity system has been aff ected by major changes due to fi nancial restrictions and policy changes that seem to directly target teaching and research in the humanities.
    [Show full text]
  • Parrhesia 31 · 2019 Parrhesia 31 · 2019 · 1-16
    parrhesia 31 · 2019 parrhesia 31 · 2019 · 1-16 gaston bachelard and contemporary philosophy massimiliano simons, jonas rutgeerts, anneleen masschelein and paul cortois1 There are philosophers whose name sounds familiar, but who very few people know in more than a vague sense. And there are philosophers whose footprints are all over the recent history of philosophy, but who themselves have retreated somewhat in the background. Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962) is a bit of both. With- out doubt, he was one of the most prominent French philosophers in the first half of the 20th century, who wrote over twenty books, covering domains as diverse as philosophy of science, poetry, art and metaphysics. His ideas profoundly influ- enced a wide array of authors including Georges Canguilhem, Gilbert Simondon, Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Bruno Latour and Pierre Bourdieu. Up until the 1980s, Bachelard’s work was widely read by philosophers, scientists, literary theo- rists, artists, and even wider audiences and in his public appearances he incar- nated one of the most iconic and fascinating icons of a philosopher. And yet, surprisingly, in recent years the interest in Bachelard’s theoretical oeuvre seems to have somewhat waned. Apart from some recent attempts to revive his thinking, the philosopher’s oeuvre is rarely discussed outside specialist circles, often only available for those able to read French.2 In contemporary Anglo-Saxon philosophy the legacy of Bachelard seems to consist mainly in his widely known book Poetics of Space. While some of Bachelard’s contemporaries, like Georges Canguilhem or Gilbert Simondon (see Parrhesia, issue 7), who were profoundly influenced by Bachelard, have been rediscovered, the same has not happened for Bachelard’s philosophical oeuvre.
    [Show full text]
  • Osborne, T. S. D. (2016). Vitalism As Pathos. Biosemiotics, 9(2), 185- 205
    Osborne, T. S. D. (2016). Vitalism as Pathos. Biosemiotics, 9(2), 185- 205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12304-016-9254-7 Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record License (if available): CC BY Link to published version (if available): 10.1007/s12304-016-9254-7 Link to publication record in Explore Bristol Research PDF-document This is the final published version of the article (version of record). It first appeared online via [insert publisher name] at [insert hyperlink]. Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher. University of Bristol - Explore Bristol Research General rights This document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/red/research-policy/pure/user-guides/ebr-terms/ Biosemiotics DOI 10.1007/s12304-016-9254-7 ORIGINAL PAPER Open Access Vitalism as Pathos Thomas Osborne1 Received: 12 November 2015 /Accepted: 10 February 2016 # The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract This paper addresses the remarkable longevity (in spite of numerous ‘refu- tations’) of the idea of vitalism in the biological sciences and beyond. If there is to be a renewed vitalism today, however, we need to ask – on what kind of original conception of life should it be based? This paper argues that recent invocations of a generalized, processual variety of vitalism in the social sciences and humanities above all, however exciting in their scope, miss much of the basic originality – and interest – of the vitalist perspective itself.
    [Show full text]
  • Books Purchased and Borrowed By
    Lists of books purchased and borrowed by the Commons Library 2008 onwards Since October 2013, the House of Commons Library has regularly published details of the books which have been most frequently borrowed from the Library, and which titles it has purchased specifically in response to requests from Members of Parliament. Some information relating to the most frequently borrowed books during the years 2008–2013 is also included. Please note: The tables containing information relating to the period from 1 April 2019 show House of Commons Library book loans from Members of Parliament only. The tables containing information relating to the period prior to 1 April 2019 take account of all loans made; not only loans to Members of Parliament, but also to staff of the House and to other libraries too. The tables containing this information were prepared in response to freedom of information requests received by the Library. • 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021 • 1 April to 30 September 2020 • 1 October 2019 to 31 March 2020 • 1 April to 30 September 2019 • 1 October 2018 to 31 March 2019 • 1 April to 30 September 2018 • 1 October 2017 to 31 March 2018 • 1 April to 30 September 2017 • 1 October 2016 to 31 March 2017 • 1 April to 30 September 2016 • 1 October 2015 to 31 March 2016 • 1 April to 30 September 2015 • 1 October 2014 to 31 March 2015 • 1 April 2014 to 30 September 2014 • 1 October 2013 to 31 March 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • About the Commons Library Books borrowed or purchased from 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021 This document lists the books purchased by the House of Commons Library in response to requests from MPs, and the books borrowed by MPs from the Library on at least two occasions during the specified period.
    [Show full text]
  • Politics2021
    politics 2021 new and recent titles I polity Page 7 Page 13 Page 13 Page 3 Page 11 Page 7 Page 51 Page 2 Page 6 CONTENTS Ordering details General Politics ............................................ 2 Books can be ordered through our website www.politybooks.com or via: Customer Care Center, John Wiley & Sons Inc. Introductory Texts ....................................... 16 9200 KEYSTONE Crossing STE 800 INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46209-4087 Toll-Free: (877) 762-2974 Fax: (877) 597-3299 Global and Comparative Politics .................. 18 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. European Distribution Centre, New Era Estate, Oldlands Way, Environmental Politics ................................. 19 Bognor Regis, WEST SUSSEX. PO22 9NQ, UK Freephone (UK only): 0800 243407 Overseas callers: +44 1243 843291 Political Economy ....................................... 22 Fax: +44 (0) 1243 843302 Email: [email protected] For Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein: War and International Security ..................... 28 Phone: +49 6201 606152 Fax: +49 6201 606184 Email: [email protected] Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding .......... 29 For Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands: Toll-free within Australia: 1800 777 474 Toll-free with New Zealand: 0800 448 200 Phone: +61 7 33548455 Development and and Human Rights ............ 30 UK and European Politics ............................ 31 Inspection Copies Most paperback editions featured in this catalogue are Russian Politics ........................................... 32 available for inspection. A maximum of three books may be considered for relevant courses with at least 12 students. A reply form must be returned to this effect. Middle Eastern Politics ................................ 33 Phone (US & Canada): (800) 225-5945 Email: ccopy@wiley,com Freephone (UK only): 0800 243407 Email: [email protected] Phone (Rest of World): +44 1243 843294 Asian Politics .............................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Women's Conference 2017 Brighton
    The Women’s Conference 2017 Brighton Gwen accompanied me to Conference on Saturday 23rd September. Annoyingly I had not received my credentials from the party in time for Conference and was instructed to attend the Conference Arrangements Office to sort it out. We found the office behind the Conference Centre and I joined the queue, I was not alone, however, they were efficient in processing us and I emerged with my photo ID. The conference was held in the Oxford room of the Hilton Hotel, We found good seats, I in the delegates section and Gwen in the visitors. Conference was opened by Dawn Butler MP for Brent Central, Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities. Our old friend Anne Black was in the chair. The atmosphere in the hall was very upbeat full to the brim with 1,500 Labour Women. Dawn gave a very inspiring address, rally style. She quoted Maya Angelou’s poem ‘Phenomenal Women’. (Read it if you get the chance) and as she told us her journey through to becoming an MP she asked us every time she raised her hand to say ‘we are phenomenal women’ all 1,500 of us repeated it with gusto many times throughout her speech. She announced that she was campaigning to put an end to ‘period poverty’, many women and young girls suffer because they have not the funds to buy the necessary protection. She will make products free to Secondary Schools and Food Banks. Dawn Butler was an impressive speaker and performer. Next the hall erupted as Jeremy came in from the back, shaking many people’s hands on the way, including Gwen’s.
    [Show full text]
  • Effects of the Agrégation De Philosophie on Twentieth- Century French Philosophy
    Effects of the Agrégation de Philosophie on Twentieth- Century French Philosophy AL A N D . S C HRI ft much attention has been paid to developments in French philosophy over the past half century, and it has been frequently noted that the recent history of French philosophy differs significantly from its counterparts in England, Germany, and the United States. While many reasons for these differences have been suggested, in what follows I would like to suggest that there is an important and unique French institution—one with no equivalent in the English-speaking or German academic systems—that has had a significant impact on developments in French philosophy throughout the twentieth century. This institution is the Agrégation de Philosophie, and its effects are virtually unknown among philosophers outside France. Even within France—while knowledge of and experience with the agréga- tion is part of the intellectual formation and career of virtually every academic educated in France, including every philosopher teaching in a university and the majority of philosophers teaching the classe de philosophie in French lycées—French philosophers themselves seem relatively unaware and uninterested in the history of the agrégation and the effects that this history has had on philosophical practices in France. What I hope to do in the following pages is explain how the agréga- tion de philosophie works, and suggest that its impact on the education of French philosophy students and the teaching corps in both the university and lycée helps explain a number of developments in French philosophy over the past century. I will also explain why the French philosophical tradition differs from its American counterpart in some very significant ways.
    [Show full text]
  • Georges Canguilhem and the Problem of Error
    Georges Canguilhem and the Problem of Error Samuel Talcott Georges Canguilhem and the Problem of Error Samuel Talcott Department of Humanities University of the Sciences Philadelphia, PA, USA ISBN 978-3-030-00778-2 ISBN 978-3-030-00779-9 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00779-9 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifcally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microflms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifc statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affliations.
    [Show full text]
  • Beyond the Normal and the Pathological: Recent Literature on Georges Canguilhem
    Gesnerus 66/2 (2009) 288–306 Essay Review Beyond the Normal and the Pathological: Recent Literature on Georges Canguilhem Stefanos Geroulanos Braunstein, Jean-François (éd.), Canguilhem. Histoire des sciences et politique du vivant (Paris 2007) Daled, Pierre F. (éd.), Alentour de Canguilhem: L’envers de la raison (Paris 2009) Fagot-Largeault,Anne/Claude Debru/Michel Morange (dir.)/Hee-Jin Han (éd.), Philosophie et médecine en hommage à Georges Canguilhem (Paris 2008) Le Blanc, Guillaume, Les maladies de l’homme normal (Paris 2008) Lecourt, Dominique, Georges Canguilhem (Paris 2008) Keywords: Georges Canguilhem; history and philosophy of medicine; history and philosophy of life sciences By the time of his death in 1995, Georges Canguilhem had become a highly respected philosopher of biology and medicine and a principal figure in the French tradition of historical epistemology. In France he was known as a thinker in the traditions of Gaston Bachelard and Henri Bergson and,though he founded no school, as a father figure for generations of scholars, includ- ing some of the most influential and interesting figures working in philo- sophy of science, sociology, and the history of thought – among them Michel Foucault, François Dagognet, Louis Althusser, François Delaporte, Pierre Bourdieu, Dominique Lecourt, and even Gilles Deleuze. He was at different stages of his life in explicit conversation with important contemporaries, among them François Jacob, Jean Hyppolite, Jean Cavaillès, Kurt Goldstein, and René Leriche. In America around that time one had only begun trans- lating his work – Ideology and Rationality in the History of the Life Sciences was published in 1990, and The Normal and the Pathological was re-printed by Zone Books in 1991 from a 1978 edition by Springer – and he was prin- Stefanos Geroulanos, Department of History, New York University, 53 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012-1098 ([email protected]).
    [Show full text]
  • Edited by Caterina Avataneo, Dalia Maini and Felice Moramarco
    Comrade Vortex says: swirl!swirl!swirl! swirl! edited by Caterina Avataneo, Dalia Maini and Felice Moramarco moving image festival 1 Index 2 3 K. Aarons An Infernal Couple: Privilege Theory and Insurrectionalism My title adapts a formulation from Miriame Kaba’s recent photo exhibition in Chicago, No Selves No Selves to to Defend, which documents the legal disqualification in the US of Black women’s bodies from the right of self-defence, from the case of Celia the slave in the mid-19th century to Marissa Al- exander in the present. Kaba shows how the anti-Black legal construction of the right of self-de- fence circumscribed this right exclusively within the symbolic framework of the human being. To have a right of self-defence first implied having a ‘self or a personhood possessing sufficient social Abolish: value as to be capable of violation in the first place. Yet, as Kaba points out, ‘For a Black woman, mere flesh is not a self. And for centuries, black women have had no selves to defend’. [1] While I think we ought to worry about Kaba’s limitation of this history to cases of ‘legitimate self-defence’, which risks an implicit attachment to the liberal framework of innocence — even as it demonstrates the inaccessibility of this same category to Black women — her claim that Black Afropessimism, women have ‘no selves to defend’ serves as a useful opportunity to reflect on another trope in anarchist, communist and militant queer thought in recent years, namely that of ‘self-abolition’. What follows is but one tiny part of an enormous conversation presently taking place around the preponderant role that anti-Black violence plays in social and interpersonal conflict and an- tagonism in the US, and with increasing intensity in the wake of the recent events in Ferguson, Anti-Politics Oakland, and Baltimore.
    [Show full text]