Parting Ways Jewishness and the Critique of Zionism JUDITH BUTLER Judith Butler THE PROVOCATIVE THEORIST ARGUES FOR THE SEPARA- TION OF JEWISHNESS FROM ZIONISM, ENGAGING A NUM- BER OF THINKERS WHO OFFER IMPORTANT RESOURCES FOR THINKING ABOUT DISPOSSESSION, STATE VIOLENCE, W YS AND POSSIBILITIES OF COHABITATION. Judith Butler follows Edward Said’s suggestion that only TING through a consideration of Palestinian dispossession in R relation to Jewish diasporic traditions will a new ethos for a one-state solution emerge. Butler engages forms of A Jewish intellectual criticism of political Zionism and its P practices of illegitimate state violence, nationalism, and state-sponsored racism. At the same time, she moves beyond communitarian frameworks, including Jewish ones, that fail to arrive at a radical democratic notion of JEWISHNESS AND THE CRITIQUE OF ZIONISM political cohabitation. As important as it is to dispute Is- rael’s claim to represent the Jewish people, it is equally important, Butler argues, to show that a narrowly Jew- ish framework cannot suffice as a basis for an ultimate “This is an incredibly important and critique of Zionism. She promotes an ethical position in timely book. As always, Butler gen- which the obligations of cohabitation do not derive from erates a brilliant and rich argument cultural sameness but from the unchosen character of through a series of readings, in this social plurality. Recovering the arguments of Jewish case, complex and nuanced engage- thinkers who offered criticisms of Zionism or whose ments with the work of Said, Levinas, work could be used for such a purpose, Butler disputes Benjamin, Arendt, Levi, and Darwish. the specific charge of anti-Semitic self-hatred often lev- The book is intent on showing eled against Jewish critiques of Israel. Her political ethic that one can develop from Jewish relies on a vision of cohabitation that exposes the limits of every communitarian framework, including Jewish sources a perspective on Israel- ones, to overcome the colonial legacy of Zionism. Her Palestine that is non-Zionist and own engagements with Said and Mahmoud Darwish are that it might even be possible to important to her articulation of the displacement of com- assert resistance to Zionism as itself munitarian thought. a ‘Jewish’ value. These scare quotes Butler draws upon some Jewish traditions of thought to are Bulter’s, who constantly ques- consider the rights of the dispossessed, the necessity of tions what it means to be Jewish.” plural cohabitation, and the dangers of arbitrary state vio- —Amy Hollywood lence, showing how they can be extended to a critique of Zionism even when that is not their purpose. Butler en- gages thinkers such as Edward Said, Emmanuel Levinas, Hannah Arendt, Primo Levi, Martin Buber, Walter Ben- jamin, and Mahmoud Darwish. She revisits and affirms Edward Said’s late proposals for a one-state solution. But- ler’s startling suggestion: Jewish ethics not only demand a critique of Zionism but must transcend its exclusive Jewishness in order to realize the ethical and political ide- $27.95t / £19.95 cloth 978-0-231-14610-4 $15.99t / £11.00 ebook 978-0-231-51795-9 als of living together in radical democracy. AUGUST 288 pages JUDITH BUTLER is Maxine Elliot Professor in the Departments of Rhetoric RELIGION / POLITICS / PHILOSOPHY and Comparative Literature and the codirector of the Program of Critical NEW DIRECTIONS IN CRITICAL THEORY Theory at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a visiting profes- All Rights: Columbia University Press sor in the English and Comparative Literature Department at Columbia University. CUP.COLUMBIA.EDU | 1 White Lama WHITE LAMA Theos Bernard, Tibet, and Yoga in America Theos Bernard, Tibet, and Yoga in America Paul G. Hackett THE FIRST BIOGRAPHY AND INTELLECTUAL HIS- TORY OF A PIONEERING AMERICAN YOGI, TIBETAN BUDDHIST, AND REBEL PERSONALITY. In 1937, Theos Casimir Bernard (1908–1947), the self- proclaimed “White Lama,” became the third American in history to reach Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. Dur- ing his stay, he amassed the largest collection of Tibetan texts, art, and artifacts in the Western hemisphere at that time. He also documented, in both still photography and 16mm film, the age-old civilization of Tibet on the eve of its destruction by Chinese Communists. Based on thou- PAUL G. HACKETT sands of primary sources and rare archival materials, White Lama recounts the real story behind the purported adventures of this iconic figure and his role in America’s religious counterculture. “The narrative jumps off the page, During his brief span, Bernard met, associated, and cor- and Hackett is at his best as he tells responded with the major social, political, and cultural this story, weaving his account of leaders of his day, from the regent and high politicians Bernard’s many encounters with of Tibet to the saints, scholars, and diplomats of Brit- exceptional men into the broader ish India, from Charles Lindbergh and Franklin Delano context of espionage, diplomatic Roosevelt to Gandhi and Nehru. Bernard also had his maneuvering, and political upheaval flaws. He was a traveler propelled by grandiose schemes, in the ‘Great Game.’ The sketches a handsome man who shamelessly used his looks to he gives, among other things, of bounce from rich wife to rich wife in support of his activ- expatriate society in Kalimpong, the ities, and a master manipulator who concocted his own wrenching final days of the British interpretation of Eastern wisdom and eventually disap- Raj, the Chinese takeover of Tibet, peared in India during the communal violence of the and especially of central characters 1947 Partition. Through diaries, interviews, and previ- in Bernard’s adventures are remark- ously unstudied documents, Paul G. Hackett shares Ber- ably well drawn...In his final chapter, nard’s compelling story and his efforts to awaken Amer- Hackett writes that his goal has been ica’s religious counterculture to the unfolding events in to write an ‘academically responsible India, the Himalayas, and Tibet. Hackett concludes with assessment of Bernard.’ He has in fact a detailed geographical and cultural trace of Bernard’s done much more.” Indian and Tibetan journeys, which shed light on the ex- —David Gordon White, J. F. Rowney plorer’s mysterious disappearance. Professor of Comparative Religion, PAUL G. HACKETT is an editor of the Tengyur University of California, Santa Barbara Translation Initiative at Columbia University. He earned his Ph.D. in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism from Columbia University and has studied Tibetan language, religion, Weston Wells Weston and culture in both traditional Tibetan and Western $32.95t / £22.95 cloth 978-0-231-15886-2 academic environments. He is the author of A Tibetan PHOTO: $25.99t / £16.00 ebook 978-0-231-53037-8 Verb Lexicon. APRIL 592 pages, 48 halftones RELIGION / BIOGRAPHY All Rights: Columbia University Press 2 | SPRING 2012 The Best Business Writing 2012 Edited by Dean Starkman, Martha M. Hamilton, Ryan Chittum, and Felix Salmon the best A SELECTION OF THE YEAR’S MOST COMPELLING AND INFORMATIVE ESSAYS CAPTURING A CRITICAL business MOMENT IN BUSINESS AND FINANCE. Launched at a time of major economic change and an un- common era in business, this new annual series presents WRITING Edited by the most intriguing and rigorous coverage of the year’s Dean Starkman, well-known and crucial-to-know developments in busi- Martha Hamilton, Ryan Chittum, ness and finance. Divided into thematic sections, such and Felix Salmon as bad business behavior, the financial system and its 2012 discontents, trends in global markets, the relationship between politics and money, big-picture practices, and news from the corporate world, the anthology fills a long- zach carter zach warren buffett warren raquel rutledge raquel jesse eisinger rosen jay hugh grant amelia hill nick davies matt taibi matt Graham bowley david segal david ryan grim ryan don van natta jr. natta don van rick barrett standing gap for those seeking diverse, enriching, yet en- jo becker tertaining perspectives on the business of business. This year’s selections include Rolling Stone’s profile of Don Blankenship and his corrupt tenure as CEO of Featuring writing from Massey Energy; the London Guardian’s original, unprec- edented investigation into the News of the World phone- Warren Buffett hacking scandal and its indictment of the Rupert Mur- Nick Davies doch media empire; and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Hugh Grant poignant account of the fatal consequences of federal deregulation in health and medicine. Two searing pieces Matt Taibbi on the ongoing mortgage scandal, one a hard look at the Gretchen Morgenson role of hedge fund Magnetar in perpetuating the hous- ing bubble for financial gain, and the other a detailed Jim Stewart breakdown of Countrywide’s malfeasance, provide criti- Paul Krugman cal context and background; while articles on recoveries in Ireland, Germany, and elsewhere suggest a way for- ward from recession. Additional articles tackle bank fees and bailouts, the Buffet Rule, the corporate lobby’s reach, the Greenspan legacy, the rise of a global business elite, the future of the American auto industry, and the mean- ing of recent shakeups at Pfizer, Gucci, IKEA, and other corporate institutions. DEAN STARKMAN is editor of the Columbia Journalism Review’s The Audit, which tracks financial journalism in print and on the Web, and is CJR’s Kingsford Capital Fellow. MARTHA M. HAMILTON is a writer and editor with www.PolitiFact.com, which, in 2009, became the first nonprint winner of the Pulitzer Prize. RYAN CHITTUM is deputy editor of CJR’s The Audit. He is a former $18.95t / £12.95 paper 978-0-231-16073-5 reporter for the Wall Street Journal and has written for numerous other $14.99t / £9.99 ebook 978-0-231-50433-1 publications, including the New York Times.