“This paradox signals a sad predicament of ours: today’s capitalism cannot reproduce itself on its own. It needs extra-economic charity to sustain the cycle of social reproduction.” (Zizek 24)
Zizek asserts that the needs of capitalism are hidden by bland and tepid policies and philosophies. Billionaires cajoling their stockholders with "ruthless speculation" while assuaging the guilt of their common public consumers with huge investments in progressive policy and intellectualism. This desire to fuel their idealism through continued assertion of a violent system exposes our own fallacious desire to participate in the system. Our good intentions are flavored by real ascetic commitments to systematic change on behalf of those on the receiving end, on the wrong side of the tracks; those desperate to take some sort of dignity away from these boundless speculative capitalists.
I am not quite sure where Zizek hopes to release his activism. In new systems? Nihilism? The system cannot change on its own. It refuses to.
Alex
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
David Kato, Gay Rights Activist, Is Killed in Uganda - NYTimes.com
David Kato, Gay Rights Activist, Is Killed in Uganda - NYTimes.com
"My underlying premise is that there is something inherently mystifying in a direct confrontation with it [violence]: the overpowering horror of violent acts and empathy with the victims inexorably function as a lure which prevents us from thinking. A dispassionate conceptual development of the typology of violence must by definition ignore its traumatic impact" (Zizek 4).
The challenge presented by Zizek is a difficult one: how can we not be horrified by the senseless murder of David Kato? I, for one, cannot escape from the grief, disappointment, and anger of another life lost to closed-mindedness and intolerance. I can, however, use the conceptual framework of violence offered by Zizek to move beyond my instinctual reaction for a "SOS call to stop violence" and proceed to an "analysis of that other SOS, the complex interaction of the three modes of violence."
The basic fact of the physical, subjective violence of Kato's murder is clear. Nothing more needs to be said here. The objective, ideological violence of the hate crime against an openly gay man in Uganda is also clear, as is the role of the American Evangelicals who arrived in Uganda to perpetuate their Christianity-driven homophobia. The third piece of Zizek's triumvirate of violence, systemic violence, is also visible in the murder of David Kato. It seems that Ugandan political leaders were contemplating a new law that would sentence openly gay men and women to the death penalty. Such intolerance for basic human rights by members of the Ugandan political system basically sanctioned and encouraged the horrible act undertaken by Kato's killers.
A thorough analysis of violence must, as Zizek alludes, take into account the interaction of these three forms of violence. I realize that my analysis of Kato's murder using Zizek's conceptual framework of violence is brief. However, I believe that it can serve as a useful starting point for providing a more complete account of hate crimes against gay men and women and make visible the invisible forms of violence.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Time: June 5, 2006
"When the media bombard us with those 'humanitarian crises' which seem constantly to pop up all over the world, one should always bear in mind that a particular crisis only explodes into media visibility as the result of a complex struggle. ... To put it cynically, Time picked the wrong victim to the struggle for hegemony in suffering. It should have struck to the list of usual suspects: Muslim women and their plight, or the families of 9/11 victims and how they have coped with their losses" (Zizek 2008:3).
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Course Description
This cross-disciplinary course will explore and evaluate various forms of violence: physical, psychological, everyday, structural, symbolic, and ethical. We will critically plumb the depths of an expanded violence—beyond the folk notion of violence as synonymous with physical force—to determine whether an enlarged understanding of violence offers analytical value. Taking violence to task will allow us to interrogate the fertility and futility of potentially substituting violence for ethnoracial domination, gender domination, transphobia, colonial domination, poverty, state abandonment, and other categories of social coercion and inequality.
The course will be divided in four sections. The first section will focus on charting theoretical territory. The next three sections will foreground violence in relation to the body, space, and the state, respectively, by navigating more concrete empirical cases while continuing to broaden our theoretical terrain. The sequence from the ostensibly specific and personal body to the seemingly remote and impersonal state will guide us into rendering visible otherwise invisible forms of violence. Finally, this course will appraise whether an expanded notion of violence can be traced on and through the body as a social object available for social scientific inquiry and analysis.
The ultimate goals of the course are to familiarize students with various theories on violence, to introduce students to the violence literature, and to provide students with an enriched social scientific vocabulary to question and critique multifarious forms of coercion.
The course will be divided in four sections. The first section will focus on charting theoretical territory. The next three sections will foreground violence in relation to the body, space, and the state, respectively, by navigating more concrete empirical cases while continuing to broaden our theoretical terrain. The sequence from the ostensibly specific and personal body to the seemingly remote and impersonal state will guide us into rendering visible otherwise invisible forms of violence. Finally, this course will appraise whether an expanded notion of violence can be traced on and through the body as a social object available for social scientific inquiry and analysis.
The ultimate goals of the course are to familiarize students with various theories on violence, to introduce students to the violence literature, and to provide students with an enriched social scientific vocabulary to question and critique multifarious forms of coercion.
Course Readings
WEEK 1-4: FRAMING VIOLENCE
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE CLASS (1/24)
WEEK 2: THEORIES ON PHYSICAL VIOLENCE (1/31)
Zizek, Slavoj. 2008. Pp. 1-39 in Violence. New York: Picador.
Collins, Randall. 2008. Pp. 1-35 in Violence: A Micro-Sociological Theory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
WEEK 3: THEORIES ON EVERYDAY AND STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE (2/07)
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy and Philippe Bourgois. 2004. “Introduction: Making Sense of Violence.” Pp. 1-31 in Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. 1992. “Everyday Violence.” Pp. 216-267 in Death Without Weeping: The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Farmer, Paul. [1997] 2004. “On Suffering and Structural Violence: A View from Below.” Pp. 281-289 in Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
WEEK 4: THEORIES ON SYMBOLIC AND ETHICAL VIOLENCE (2/14)
Bourdieu, Pierre and Loïc Wacquant. [1992] 2004. “Symbolic Violence.” Pp. 272-274 in Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Butler, Judith. 2005. “Against Ethical Violence.” Pp. 41-82 in Giving an Account of Oneself. New York: Fordham University Press.
WEEK 5-8: BODY AND VIOLENCE
WEEK 5: ACADEMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE HOLIDAY (2/21)
WEEK 6: GENDERED VIOLENCE (2/28)
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1998. Pp. 1-80 in Masculine Domination. Translated Richard Nice. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Namaste, Viviane K. 2000. “Genderbashing: Sexuality, Gender, and the Regulation of Public Space.” Pp. 135-156 in Invisible Lives: The Erasure of Transsexual and Transgendered People. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
WEEK 7: SPORTING VIOLENCE (3/07)
Messner, Michael. 1990. “When Bodies are Weapons: Masculinity and Violence in Sport.” International Review for the Sociology of Sport 25(3): 203-219.
Wacquant, Loïc. 2004. “The Street and the Ring.” Pp. 13-149 in Body and Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
WEEK 8: THE DISCIPLINED BODY (3/14)
Foucault, Michel. [1975] 1995. Pp. 3-31, 135-169, and 170-194 in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Books.
WEEK 9-11: SPACE AND VIOLENCE
WEEK 9: SPRING BREAK (3/21)
WEEK 10: CARTOGRAPHIC VIOLENCE (3/28)
Neocleous, Mark. 2003. “Off the Map: On Violence and Cartography.” European Journal of Social Theory 6(4): 409-425.
Dalby, Simon. 2006. “The Pentagon’s New Imperial Cartography: Tabloid Realism and the War on Terror.” Pp. 295-308 in Violent Geographies: Fear, Terror, and Political Violence, edited by Derek Gregory and Allan Pred. New York: Routledge.
WEEK 11: TERROR AND TERRITORY (4/04)
Fanon, Franz. [1963] 2004. “Colonial War and Mental Disorder.” Pp. 443-452 in Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Fanon, Franz. 1963. “On Violence.” Pp. 1-62 in The Wretched of the Earth. New York:Grove Press.
Discussion of Essay Prompts and Rubric for Evaluation
WEEK 12-14: STATE AND VIOLENCE
WEEK 12: INCEPTIONS AND BREAKS (4/11)
Brown, Wendy. 1995. “Finding the Man in the State.” Pp. 166-196 in States of Injury: Power and Freedom in Late Modernity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Lenin, VI. 1932. Pp. 7-24, 35-37, and 71-75 in State and Revolution. New York: International
Publishers.
WEEK 13: STATES OF ABANDONMENT (4/18)
Auyero, Javier and Débora Alejandra Swistun. 2009. Pp. 1-20, 63-80, and 82-108 in Flammable: Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Bourgois, Philippe and Jeff Schonberg. 2009. Pp. 1-45 and 297-320 in Righteous Dopefiend. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
WEEK 14: CONCLUSIONS (4/25)
Paper Due and Discussion of Papers
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE CLASS (1/24)
WEEK 2: THEORIES ON PHYSICAL VIOLENCE (1/31)
Zizek, Slavoj. 2008. Pp. 1-39 in Violence. New York: Picador.
Collins, Randall. 2008. Pp. 1-35 in Violence: A Micro-Sociological Theory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
WEEK 3: THEORIES ON EVERYDAY AND STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE (2/07)
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy and Philippe Bourgois. 2004. “Introduction: Making Sense of Violence.” Pp. 1-31 in Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. 1992. “Everyday Violence.” Pp. 216-267 in Death Without Weeping: The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Farmer, Paul. [1997] 2004. “On Suffering and Structural Violence: A View from Below.” Pp. 281-289 in Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
WEEK 4: THEORIES ON SYMBOLIC AND ETHICAL VIOLENCE (2/14)
Bourdieu, Pierre and Loïc Wacquant. [1992] 2004. “Symbolic Violence.” Pp. 272-274 in Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Butler, Judith. 2005. “Against Ethical Violence.” Pp. 41-82 in Giving an Account of Oneself. New York: Fordham University Press.
WEEK 5-8: BODY AND VIOLENCE
WEEK 5: ACADEMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE HOLIDAY (2/21)
WEEK 6: GENDERED VIOLENCE (2/28)
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1998. Pp. 1-80 in Masculine Domination. Translated Richard Nice. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Namaste, Viviane K. 2000. “Genderbashing: Sexuality, Gender, and the Regulation of Public Space.” Pp. 135-156 in Invisible Lives: The Erasure of Transsexual and Transgendered People. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
WEEK 7: SPORTING VIOLENCE (3/07)
Messner, Michael. 1990. “When Bodies are Weapons: Masculinity and Violence in Sport.” International Review for the Sociology of Sport 25(3): 203-219.
Wacquant, Loïc. 2004. “The Street and the Ring.” Pp. 13-149 in Body and Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
WEEK 8: THE DISCIPLINED BODY (3/14)
Foucault, Michel. [1975] 1995. Pp. 3-31, 135-169, and 170-194 in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Books.
WEEK 9-11: SPACE AND VIOLENCE
WEEK 9: SPRING BREAK (3/21)
WEEK 10: CARTOGRAPHIC VIOLENCE (3/28)
Neocleous, Mark. 2003. “Off the Map: On Violence and Cartography.” European Journal of Social Theory 6(4): 409-425.
Dalby, Simon. 2006. “The Pentagon’s New Imperial Cartography: Tabloid Realism and the War on Terror.” Pp. 295-308 in Violent Geographies: Fear, Terror, and Political Violence, edited by Derek Gregory and Allan Pred. New York: Routledge.
WEEK 11: TERROR AND TERRITORY (4/04)
Fanon, Franz. [1963] 2004. “Colonial War and Mental Disorder.” Pp. 443-452 in Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Fanon, Franz. 1963. “On Violence.” Pp. 1-62 in The Wretched of the Earth. New York:Grove Press.
Discussion of Essay Prompts and Rubric for Evaluation
WEEK 12-14: STATE AND VIOLENCE
WEEK 12: INCEPTIONS AND BREAKS (4/11)
Brown, Wendy. 1995. “Finding the Man in the State.” Pp. 166-196 in States of Injury: Power and Freedom in Late Modernity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Lenin, VI. 1932. Pp. 7-24, 35-37, and 71-75 in State and Revolution. New York: International
Publishers.
WEEK 13: STATES OF ABANDONMENT (4/18)
Auyero, Javier and Débora Alejandra Swistun. 2009. Pp. 1-20, 63-80, and 82-108 in Flammable: Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Bourgois, Philippe and Jeff Schonberg. 2009. Pp. 1-45 and 297-320 in Righteous Dopefiend. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
WEEK 14: CONCLUSIONS (4/25)
Paper Due and Discussion of Papers
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