5/13 Praxis & Critique: Assemblies
“The objective of Praxis 13/13 is to pivot critical theory toward the pressing question of what is to be done in these critical times. My sense is that we have inherited a rich and diverse range of critical theories to help us analyze the present global crises, but that, with regard to critical praxis, we are in a slightly different situation today. The trajectory of critical praxis, although influenced by similar forces as that of critical theory, has landed us in a different place. This raises a quandary, but it also presents an opportunity: to rejuvenate critical praxis for the twenty-first century.” –Bernard E. Harcourt
Tahrir Square, January 2011. Zuccoti Park, November 2011. Taksim Gezi Park, May 2013. Place de la République, March 2016. Today, the Champs Élysées at the Étoile. The Smile Revolution in Algeria. The images have now become iconic. The mode of uprising as well. Assembly. Leaderlessness. Political disobedience.
In her Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly, Judith Butler explores the power of assembly. Butler draws on theories of performativity—which she helped develop in the context of gender—to suggest that these assemblies enacted a particular form of “we the people,” one in which the multitude gather to contest their condition of precarity and proclaim loudly to those in power that “we are part of the people and we are still here.” Assembly is the condition of possibility for forming a people that does not act merely as a group of individuals, but as a collective. “The thesis of this book,” Butler writes, “is that none of us acts without the conditions to act, even though sometimes we must act to install and preserve those very conditions.” (16) Assembly is, in this sense, an act of defiance in the face of domination.
Please join us for the eleventh seminar in the Praxis 13/13 series, Assemblies, on Wednesday March 27, from 6:15pm to 8:45pm in the Heyman Center Common Room to continue the conversation with speakers Robin Celikates, Joshua Clover, Marianne Hirsch, Nandini Sundar, Thomas Dodman, Bernard E. Harcourt and other participants.
Please RSVP at the Eventbrite page.
Buell Hall, Columbia University
Open to the public, please RSVP to Ghislaine Pages. Reservations can be made here.
Where: Columbia University
116th St. & Broadway
212-854-1754 Price: Free, reservation required
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“The objective of Praxis 13/13 is to pivot critical theory toward the pressing question of what is to be done in these critical times. My sense is that we have inherited a rich and diverse range of critical theories to help us analyze the present global crises, but that, with regard to critical praxis, we are in a slightly different situation today. The trajectory of critical praxis, although influenced by similar forces as that of critical theory, has landed us in a different place. This raises a quandary, but it also presents an opportunity: to rejuvenate critical praxis for the twenty-first century.” –Bernard E. Harcourt
Tahrir Square, January 2011. Zuccoti Park, November 2011. Taksim Gezi Park, May 2013. Place de la République, March 2016. Today, the Champs Élysées at the Étoile. The Smile Revolution in Algeria. The images have now become iconic. The mode of uprising as well. Assembly. Leaderlessness. Political disobedience.
In her Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly, Judith Butler explores the power of assembly. Butler draws on theories of performativity—which she helped develop in the context of gender—to suggest that these assemblies enacted a particular form of “we the people,” one in which the multitude gather to contest their condition of precarity and proclaim loudly to those in power that “we are part of the people and we are still here.” Assembly is the condition of possibility for forming a people that does not act merely as a group of individuals, but as a collective. “The thesis of this book,” Butler writes, “is that none of us acts without the conditions to act, even though sometimes we must act to install and preserve those very conditions.” (16) Assembly is, in this sense, an act of defiance in the face of domination.
Please join us for the eleventh seminar in the Praxis 13/13 series, Assemblies, on Wednesday March 27, from 6:15pm to 8:45pm in the Heyman Center Common Room to continue the conversation with speakers Robin Celikates, Joshua Clover, Marianne Hirsch, Nandini Sundar, Thomas Dodman, Bernard E. Harcourt and other participants.
Please RSVP at the Eventbrite page.
Buell Hall, Columbia University
Open to the public, please RSVP to Ghislaine Pages. Reservations can be made here.