ThoughtGallery.org > Uprising 13/13: Insurgency (2/13) | A Festival of Maoist Insurrection

Uprising 13/13: Insurgency (2/13) | A Festival of Maoist Insurrection

The epilogue to Uprising 1/13 serves as a useful pivot from Marx to Mao and to a different modality of uprising that might be called insurrection or insurgency: a pivot from the modern concept of revolution deeply in conversation with the writings of Marx and Koselleck to the form of insurrection inspired, in large part, by the writings and thought of Mao Zedong. The first modality—revolution—retains a certain attachment to modern notions of sovereignty and citizenship, to working class struggle, and to a Marxist philosophy of history; the second modality reaches beyond the industrialized worker and raises questions about the reproduction of power through social institutions, about the place of subjectivity, and about possibilities of transforming oneself, others, and communities. The second, in perhaps a somewhat paradoxical sense, is more infused with psychological insight, however much it may resist the discipline; recall that Mao’s early strategies for insurgency were interpreted and understood as combining guerilla and psychological warfare, and that winning the hearts and minds of the passive masses played a crucial role in Mao’s early writings. Different philosophies of history and different political and historical situations gave way to different modalities of revolt.

The turn from Marx to Mao resonates well with the intense debates and internecine battles between different student organizations and worker syndicates during the heated months of the May ’68 uprisings across the globe. The clash fueled new ways of thinking about power in the 1970s—and continues to offer a useful heuristic to explore more contemporary political movements today, represented for instance in the thought and publications of the Invisible Committee.

Read more…

“In politics,” Reinhart Koselleck writes at the end of his essay on the modern concept of revolution, “words and their usage are more important than any other weapon.” Perhaps. Or perhaps not. Perhaps the words, in the end, merely catch up with the things. Regardless, a central question arises: In an age that may be considered post-revolutionary (but that too is a question), how should we understand and theorize collective action and individual political engagement? This seminar seeks to answer that question through a sustained, critical examination of different contemporary forms of political uprisings.

The purpose of this seminar series, then, is to explore various modalities of disobedience, inservitude, revolt, social movement, or other forms of political contestation. Instead of including them all under the name of “revolution”—a term that has become conceptually and historically fraught—we are interested in considering how specific experiences and discourses articulate new forms of uprising or reformulate well-known ones. By focusing on this conceptual, historical and political problematic, we intend to shine a light on experiences and manifestations that take place at the local and at the global level, as well as at the subjective and the collective level. The idea is to articulate how critical political practice is expressed and understood today. Each session will focus on one form of uprising in relation to historical events, from modern revolutionary movements to the Arab Spring and the Dakota Access Pipeline. We will be addressing the questions on the basis of a range of archival and theoretical sources, and other media.

The seminar series will follow the same format as the two previous CCCCT seminar series, namely the seminar series that focused on Michel Foucault’s Collège de France lectures and produced the Foucault 13/13 series during the 2015-2016 academic year, and the seminar series focused on critical readings of Friedrich Nietzsche that produced the Nietzsche 13/13 series during the 2016-2017 academic year. At each session, two or three guests, from different disciplines, will be invited to discuss the readings and present on the themes of the seminar. Each seminar will host specialists from across the disciplines, from Columbia University and from outside campus. It will also frame and interrelate with a Paris Reading Group that will run alongside the seminar.

Welcome to Uprising 13/13! A CCCCT series continuing Foucault 13/13 and Nietzsche 13/13, organized by Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco.

This series is run in conjunction with a film series on themes of resistance at Columbia University’s Maison Française as well as Professor Etienne Balibar’s seminar on “Revolution: Future/Past” and Professors Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco’s seminar on Contemporary Critical Thought.

The seminars will be open to all. If you are interested in attending, please inform us by sending an email explaining your interest to Anna Krauthamer at [email protected].

Claire Fontaine (artist collaborative)

Claudia Pozzana (University of Bologna)

Alessandro Russo (University of Bologna)

Moderated by Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco

Jerome Greene Annex











When: Thu., Oct. 5, 2017 at 6:15 pm - 8:45 pm
Where: Columbia University
116th St. & Broadway
212-854-1754
Price: Free
Buy tickets/get more info now
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The epilogue to Uprising 1/13 serves as a useful pivot from Marx to Mao and to a different modality of uprising that might be called insurrection or insurgency: a pivot from the modern concept of revolution deeply in conversation with the writings of Marx and Koselleck to the form of insurrection inspired, in large part, by the writings and thought of Mao Zedong. The first modality—revolution—retains a certain attachment to modern notions of sovereignty and citizenship, to working class struggle, and to a Marxist philosophy of history; the second modality reaches beyond the industrialized worker and raises questions about the reproduction of power through social institutions, about the place of subjectivity, and about possibilities of transforming oneself, others, and communities. The second, in perhaps a somewhat paradoxical sense, is more infused with psychological insight, however much it may resist the discipline; recall that Mao’s early strategies for insurgency were interpreted and understood as combining guerilla and psychological warfare, and that winning the hearts and minds of the passive masses played a crucial role in Mao’s early writings. Different philosophies of history and different political and historical situations gave way to different modalities of revolt.

The turn from Marx to Mao resonates well with the intense debates and internecine battles between different student organizations and worker syndicates during the heated months of the May ’68 uprisings across the globe. The clash fueled new ways of thinking about power in the 1970s—and continues to offer a useful heuristic to explore more contemporary political movements today, represented for instance in the thought and publications of the Invisible Committee.

Read more…

“In politics,” Reinhart Koselleck writes at the end of his essay on the modern concept of revolution, “words and their usage are more important than any other weapon.” Perhaps. Or perhaps not. Perhaps the words, in the end, merely catch up with the things. Regardless, a central question arises: In an age that may be considered post-revolutionary (but that too is a question), how should we understand and theorize collective action and individual political engagement? This seminar seeks to answer that question through a sustained, critical examination of different contemporary forms of political uprisings.

The purpose of this seminar series, then, is to explore various modalities of disobedience, inservitude, revolt, social movement, or other forms of political contestation. Instead of including them all under the name of “revolution”—a term that has become conceptually and historically fraught—we are interested in considering how specific experiences and discourses articulate new forms of uprising or reformulate well-known ones. By focusing on this conceptual, historical and political problematic, we intend to shine a light on experiences and manifestations that take place at the local and at the global level, as well as at the subjective and the collective level. The idea is to articulate how critical political practice is expressed and understood today. Each session will focus on one form of uprising in relation to historical events, from modern revolutionary movements to the Arab Spring and the Dakota Access Pipeline. We will be addressing the questions on the basis of a range of archival and theoretical sources, and other media.

The seminar series will follow the same format as the two previous CCCCT seminar series, namely the seminar series that focused on Michel Foucault’s Collège de France lectures and produced the Foucault 13/13 series during the 2015-2016 academic year, and the seminar series focused on critical readings of Friedrich Nietzsche that produced the Nietzsche 13/13 series during the 2016-2017 academic year. At each session, two or three guests, from different disciplines, will be invited to discuss the readings and present on the themes of the seminar. Each seminar will host specialists from across the disciplines, from Columbia University and from outside campus. It will also frame and interrelate with a Paris Reading Group that will run alongside the seminar.

Welcome to Uprising 13/13! A CCCCT series continuing Foucault 13/13 and Nietzsche 13/13, organized by Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco.

This series is run in conjunction with a film series on themes of resistance at Columbia University’s Maison Française as well as Professor Etienne Balibar’s seminar on “Revolution: Future/Past” and Professors Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco’s seminar on Contemporary Critical Thought.

The seminars will be open to all. If you are interested in attending, please inform us by sending an email explaining your interest to Anna Krauthamer at [email protected].

Claire Fontaine (artist collaborative)

Claudia Pozzana (University of Bologna)

Alessandro Russo (University of Bologna)

Moderated by Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco

Jerome Greene Annex

Buy tickets/get more info now