In the study of German history, there is the notion of sonderweg, literally the “special path,” down which the German people are fated to wander. In different eras, and depending on who employed it, the term could imply different things. It began as a positive myth during the imperial period that some German scholars told themselves about their political system and culture. During and after World War II it turned distinctly negative, a way for outsiders to make sense of the singularity of Germany’s crimes.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Andrew Lugg. Wittgenstein's Investigations. A Guide and Interpretation
It now seems to me preferable to use the non-technical language Wittgenstein himself favoured and to avoid even the slightest suggestion that he is examining a well-defined philosophical position. As I see it, the power and drama of the Investigations resides largely in the way Wittgenstein digs out and comes to terms with philosophical conceptions that grip us, and it subverts what he is attempting to achieve to belittle the diversity of the intuitions he is at pains to combat.
https://www.questia.com/read/108090561/wittgenstein-s-investigations-1-133-a-guide-and
https://www.questia.com/read/108090561/wittgenstein-s-investigations-1-133-a-guide-and
Against unifying theory, history as a chaotic jumble instead of a linear process.
Yet whether viewed from within or without, left or right, the Germans could be seen through such a lens to possess some collective essence — a specialness — capable of explaining everything. In this way, one could speak of a trajectory “from Luther to Hitler” and interpret history not as some chaotic jumble but as a crisp, linear process.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/opinion/ta-nehisi-coates-whiteness-power.html
Ai Weiwei on His Documentary on Refugees
The United Nations says there are now more refugees worldwide than at any time since World War II. The journey and struggle of these 65 million refugees is the subject of Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei’s epic new documentary. It’s called “Human Flow.”
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/10/9/human_flow_world_renowned_artist_activist
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/10/9/human_flow_world_renowned_artist_activist
Saturday, October 7, 2017
Moscú: El sonido y la furia
En los años noventa todo indicaba que teníamos un veredicto definitivo sobre el fracaso del experimento soviético. Su violenta incomprensión de lo que mueve a los individuos y a las sociedades se había traducido en una asfixia de la sociedad civil que gangrenó el sistema hasta colapsarlo.
http://www.nexos.com.mx/?p=33927
http://www.nexos.com.mx/?p=33927
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Gabriel Rockhill. The idea of democracy October 3, 2017
Gabriel Rockhill is a French-American philosopher and cultural critic. He is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University, Director of the Critical Theory Workshop/Atelier de Théorie Critique, and former Directeur de programme at the Collège International de Philosophie. His work spans the fields of history, aesthetics, technology and politics,
https://tunein.com/radio/KPFA---Against-the-Grain-p53399/
https://tunein.com/radio/KPFA---Against-the-Grain-p53399/
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
La gran estafa bolivariana
¿Por qué nadie le dijo a Chávez que no se peleara con el mercado y que evitara expropiar empresas? Cuando él llegó al gobierno, la extrema izquierda ya venía de regreso en ese tema, incluso cuidando la estabilidad macroeconómica en arreglos con organismos financieros. Algunos países con gobiernos de izquierda que se definieron bolivarianos respetaron el mercado y sus economías han crecido. ¿Por qué Cuba, que estaba desarrollando reformas capitalistas, en vez de señalar el error empujó al chavismo a la radicalización? ¿Por qué los consultores izquierdistas europeos tampoco dijeron nada? Callaron porque el desorden y el despilfarro bolivariano era una condición óptima para sacar recursos mediante acuerdos políticos, una economía más ordenada hubiera obligado a controles administrativos. Al final todo esto ha sido una gran estafa, la extrema izquierda engañaba al chavismo, los militares engañaban a la extrema izquierda, los cubanos engañaban a los venezolanos, los chavistas se engañaban a ellos mismos y todos juntos engañaron a los más pobres.
http://www.nexos.com.mx/?p=33480
http://www.nexos.com.mx/?p=33480
La destruccion de la democracia venezolana
Hacia finales de la década, a pesar de la abundancia petrolera, el balance económico comienza a ser desfavorable. Los procesos de expropiación no daban buenos resultados e impedían desarrollar industrias, la inflación crecía y el desabasto de alimentos se propagaba. El país importaba para entonces cerca del 70% de los alimentos, al tiempo que Caracas se convertía en la cuarta ciudad más violenta del mundo. Aunque la pobreza continuaba disminuyendo, la clase media no aumentaba como en otras naciones sudamericanas; la frustración frente a la deficiencia de los servicios públicos era cada vez mayor.
Ante ese cuadro, comenzaron a generarse protestas sociales, que el chavismo optó por criminalizar. Los líderes de un movimiento estudiantil cada vez más activo fueron apresados, imputándoseles cargos desproporcionados como el instigar a la guerra civil. La detención de opositores se fue haciendo más común y varios optaron por marchar al exilio. Al mismo tiempo, Chávez, que ya había mostrado signos de irrespeto a la independencia del Poder Judicial, se lanzó contra varios jueces que no se acoplaban a su línea política. En 2009, 13 jueces fueron destituidos de sus cargos por emitir fallos desfavorables al gobierno.
http://www.nexos.com.mx/?p=33500
Ante ese cuadro, comenzaron a generarse protestas sociales, que el chavismo optó por criminalizar. Los líderes de un movimiento estudiantil cada vez más activo fueron apresados, imputándoseles cargos desproporcionados como el instigar a la guerra civil. La detención de opositores se fue haciendo más común y varios optaron por marchar al exilio. Al mismo tiempo, Chávez, que ya había mostrado signos de irrespeto a la independencia del Poder Judicial, se lanzó contra varios jueces que no se acoplaban a su línea política. En 2009, 13 jueces fueron destituidos de sus cargos por emitir fallos desfavorables al gobierno.
http://www.nexos.com.mx/?p=33500
Monday, September 11, 2017
Judith Butler. Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly
Judith Butler's new book interweaves her two theories of performativity and precarity with the works of Hannah Arendt, Giorgio Agamben, and Emmanuel Levinas as a way to critically assess and speak to Tahrir Square, Occupy, Black Lives Matter, and other movements of dissent. In this interview, Stephanie Berbec asks her to consider her work in light of the recent events at Standing Rock and the 2016 presidential election.and the 2016 presidential election.
https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3304-an-interview-with-judith-butler
https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3304-an-interview-with-judith-butler
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Thursday, July 27, 2017
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Sunday, July 16, 2017
Linguist and Cognitive Scientist George Lakoff
Linguist and Cognitive Scientist George Lakoff | Interviews | Tavis Smiley | PBS: The esteemed academic discusses current events.
Saturday, July 15, 2017
Friday, July 7, 2017
Friday, June 30, 2017
Monday, June 19, 2017
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Residente combate en un documental “la moda de ser raza pura”
El cantante puertorriqueño presenta en un largamotraje, cargado de denuncia, su nuevo proyecto artístico: un viaje en busca de la música de sus antepasados
http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2017/04/07/actualidad/1491522774_845532.html?id_externo_rsoc=TW_CC
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Cuba story
“The Cuba Libre Story” is a multi-country co-production, including ZDFinfo (a German outfit), France Télévisions SA (the French public national television broadcaster), LOOKSfilm (Germany), Interscoop (France) and Format TV (Russia) – all collaborating to tell Cuba’s complete history – looking back at 500 years before the Castro Brothers, and ahead at what will come after them.
https://www.reddit.com/r/cuba/comments/5k7s6a/the_cuba_libre_story_netflix_documentary/
https://www.reddit.com/r/cuba/comments/5k7s6a/the_cuba_libre_story_netflix_documentary/
Naomi Klein - 'Shock Resistance'
the merger of humans and corporations—a one-man megabrand, with wife and children as spin-off brands.
four decades of corporate, neoliberal policies and privatization, deregulation, free trade, and austerity
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/04/05/no-not-enough-naomi-klein-writing-anti-trump-blueprint-shock-resistance
four decades of corporate, neoliberal policies and privatization, deregulation, free trade, and austerity
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/04/05/no-not-enough-naomi-klein-writing-anti-trump-blueprint-shock-resistance
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Ernesto Cardenal. El paraíso de los pintores primitivistas de Solentiname
“El padre Cardenal vio que había un talento en Solentiname y dijo que había que continuar lo que habían hecho nuestros ancestros”, cuenta Arellano, de 77 años, en su casa de La Venada, sentado en una esquina al lado de una ventana donde pinta sus paisajes primitivistas, con tres ramas superpuestas usadas como caballete. “El padre vino y trajo a un pintor de Managua que se llama Róger Pérez de la Rocha, quien hizo unos talleres de pintura. Un pariente me dijo que por qué no me integraba a pintar, porque la vida es diferente a estar volando machete. Entonces le dije a mi esposa que vaya ella primero, porque si desatendía los cultivos no sé qué hubiera pasado. A la semana le digo: enséñame lo que estás haciendo. Y trajo un cuadrito que yo miraba bonito”, agrega el pintor.
El poeta contó con el apoyo del maestro Róger Pérez de la Rocha, uno de los pintores más aclamados del arte nicaragüense. “Llegué a Solentiname a raíz de una crisis nerviosa de juventud”, narra Pérez de la Rocha en su estudio de Managua. “Tuve un intento de suicidio, delirio de persecución, pero me conectaron con Ernesto y él me dio refugio, porque realmente estaba en peligro mi vida. Él me dio hospitalidad. Fue un hecho determinante en mi crecimiento como artista educarme a la sombra de Ernesto Cardenal. Fue mi guía en esos años de juventud”, narra.
http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2017/03/28/actualidad/1490664074_392036.html
El poeta contó con el apoyo del maestro Róger Pérez de la Rocha, uno de los pintores más aclamados del arte nicaragüense. “Llegué a Solentiname a raíz de una crisis nerviosa de juventud”, narra Pérez de la Rocha en su estudio de Managua. “Tuve un intento de suicidio, delirio de persecución, pero me conectaron con Ernesto y él me dio refugio, porque realmente estaba en peligro mi vida. Él me dio hospitalidad. Fue un hecho determinante en mi crecimiento como artista educarme a la sombra de Ernesto Cardenal. Fue mi guía en esos años de juventud”, narra.
http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2017/03/28/actualidad/1490664074_392036.html
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz se hizo monja para poder pensar
una intelectual orgánica en el sentido gramsciano, que, como tal, termina enfrentándose a la ortodoxia y al poder en cuyo seno estaba integrada, y que sufre en sí misma la colaboración de la propia ideología con sus acusadores hasta llegar a autoacusarse.
A Octavio Paz le sedujo "la perfección de la obra y el carácter enigmático de la vida" de esta curiosa monja, consciente de ser mujer y completamente absorbida por una pasión inédita, la del conocimiento, que, precisamente por ella, "tiene que neutralizar su sexo para poder acceder al ansia de conocer".
http://elpais.com/diario/1982/11/04/cultura/405212404_850215.html
A Octavio Paz le sedujo "la perfección de la obra y el carácter enigmático de la vida" de esta curiosa monja, consciente de ser mujer y completamente absorbida por una pasión inédita, la del conocimiento, que, precisamente por ella, "tiene que neutralizar su sexo para poder acceder al ansia de conocer".
http://elpais.com/diario/1982/11/04/cultura/405212404_850215.html
El amor entre sor Juana Inés de la Cruz y la virreina de México
Fue una niña prodigio y una mujer de portentoso talento.
De madre criolla analfabeta y padre militar español, aprendió a leer a muy corta edad en el nada feminista siglo XVII y tuvo la osadía de consagrar su vida al estudio y la escritura y no a su marido y a su progenie. Para ello se hizo monja, primero carmelita y luego jerónima, no tanto por vocación divina como por necesidad de encontrar un espacio para sí misma y para dedicarse al conocimiento.
http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2017/03/29/actualidad/1490761165_233141.html
De madre criolla analfabeta y padre militar español, aprendió a leer a muy corta edad en el nada feminista siglo XVII y tuvo la osadía de consagrar su vida al estudio y la escritura y no a su marido y a su progenie. Para ello se hizo monja, primero carmelita y luego jerónima, no tanto por vocación divina como por necesidad de encontrar un espacio para sí misma y para dedicarse al conocimiento.
http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2017/03/29/actualidad/1490761165_233141.html
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Monday, March 27, 2017
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Rutger Bregman - Utopia for realists
‘It’s not only a redistribution of income, but also of power’
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/26/rutger-bregman-utopia-for-realists-interview-universal-basic-income
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/26/rutger-bregman-utopia-for-realists-interview-universal-basic-income
Rutger Bregman - Utopía para realistas
"La renta básica universal sería el mayor logro del capitalismo”
El pensador holandés propone repartir dinero gratis y la jornada laboral de 15 horas para acabar con la desigualdad
http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2017/03/23/actualidad/1490287072_800265.html
Benetton y los mapuches, batalla sin fin en la Patagonia argentina
Un grupo de indígenas se instala en una parte de las 900.000 hectáreas con 100.000 ovejas que tiene el grupo italiano en el país austral. Los intentos por sacarlos han acabado con heridos graves.
http://elpais.com/especiales/2017/represion-mapuches-argentina/?autoplay=1
http://elpais.com/especiales/2017/represion-mapuches-argentina/?autoplay=1
Friday, March 24, 2017
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Friday, March 17, 2017
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Friday, March 10, 2017
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Monday, February 27, 2017
Monday, February 20, 2017
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Friday, February 17, 2017
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva. Time to Kill "The Racist" (the concept)
It is time to kill the racist (the concept folks, the concept). “The racist” concept, derived from the racism-as-prejudice view, describes individuals filled with rage and hate against the Other—albeit Archie Bunker, the popular TV character, was presented as good-natured ignoramus. All versions of the racist, nevertheless, assume racist individuals have little education, are not cosmopolitan, come from working class backgrounds, and reside in the South or in working class neighborhoods anywhere in America. And, unfortunately, social scientists in general have reinforced this concept with their work, commentary, policies, and actions as the concept is ultimately a very useful defense of their own racial souls (poor whites are “racist,” but WE, liberal, middle-class, educated whites, ARE NOT).
“The racist” term is an obstacle for the proper study and appreciation of the import of racism—the system that structures racialization and racial inequality in societies all over the world. Killing “the racist” conceptually will require a few things. First, we must acknowledge that once the world was racialized and racism emerged as a social structure, all members of racial polities (in David Goldberg’s term, “racial states”) were racialized. Racialization, defined by Omi and Winant as the extension of racial meaning to a group, is a permanent, never finished process. “Whites,” “blacks,” “Latinos,” “Asians,” “Native Americans,” “Arabs,” “Jews” and other racialized groups are always “in the making” (E. P. Thompson) and, accordingly, the content of their racialization can change. Segments of groups or entire groups can, given particular conditions, move up or down the racial ladder—the former is the case of some Asians and Latinos (see my work on the Latin Americanization of racial stratification) and the latter is the case of Arabs in the post 9/11 era, a situation made worse by Trump’s election.
Second, and most importantly, we must appreciate that racialization is not an independent force. It exists as part of a social order that has incorporated racism structurally to justify genocide, colonialism, and extreme labor exploitation. Once racism becomes part of social order, the culture and practices of the system reflect and reinforce racial domination. When whites were killing “Indians” and taking their land, the culture described them as “savages” and heathen making it easier to massacre them. Too do the dirty deeds, whites used numerous expansionist, tricky, and military practices, but all had a bottom line: “when whites needed land, they took it” (William T. Hagan). Even those who presumably viewed Native Americans favorably such as Thomas Jefferson, ultimately recommended things such as lending them money they could not pay back in order to take their land. To be clear, even if repetitive, racism becomes embedded in practices and in culture thus maintaining a racial order that favors the dominant racial group. And those practices that reproduce the racial order are enacted by ALL whites, which is yet another reason to kill the concept of "the racist."
Third, although all actors are racialized, their racialization varies by class, gender, and sexual orientation. Hence, all whites are racialized as whites, but middle class and elite whites can buttress their racialization and project it onto their poorer brethren. This is what I think most white liberals and progressives do—and what most white social scientists endeavor to show, that is, they labor to signify that they are not “racist” as racism is a disease afflicting poor, undereducated, authoritarian whites. For example, in this last electoral cycle, we had story after story in the media about the “racists”; maps showing where they reside and all sort of commentary vilifying the Trumpistas. Mind you, my take is not that we should just be “empathetic” to white workers (Arlie Hochschild does too much on this in her STRANGERS IN THEIR LAND as well as ends up safeguarding the soul of white liberals. See also Joel Gest and C, Kramer, whose work lines up in this tradition, too). After all, despite their real class pain, they have always done much better than their non-white counterparts. My take is that all whites are racial subjects* and, as such, participate in various, class- and race-inflected ways in the reproduction of racial order. Voting for Republicans was deemed as “racist,” but voting for the Dems does not exculpate white liberals from racism. (*Let me point out that all members of a racialized social system are racialized. I am focusing here on whites as they are the ones somewhat perceived as beyond racialization.)
Lastly, to kill the racist (again, the concept) we will have to do some serious politics with whites. I think the multiple fractures and possibilities of the white working class—the most vulnerable segment of the white team—suggest that we must place the bulk of our political efforts at transforming their views, practices, cognitions, and emotions to advance social and racial justice in America. This does not mean ignoring the white middle class (after all, politics is about working with as many people as one can to change the world), but it means that we may need to reverse our priorities and put more effort in engaging the white working class. It also does not mean being silly and assume this will be an easy thing to do given their objective location in the social order. They are racialized actors and do in act receive a slightly better social deal than their nonwhite counterparts. More significantly, as part of their racialization, they are charged EMOTIONALLY and believe that they are the shit compared with nonwhites. They think that what they get in life is because they, unlike nonwhite folks, are hard-working, moral, religious folks. Hence, working to challenge and disrupt their race-class consciousness will require effort, finding the commonalities, and developing solidarities that do not exist at this juncture.
Let me sum up what we need to do to “kill the racist”? First, we have to talk more about racism as a system and avoid the racist term. Second, we must refuse to separate whites clinically between those afflicted with racism and those free of racism. This entails making the difficult argument that ALL whites are racialized subjects and thus participate in systemic racism in various ways—this includes “good whites” and anti-racist whites and I personally know many liberal and anti-racist whites who are in DESPERATE need of good kick in their racialized ass. Third, we, the wretched of the earth and our allies, have to work on a new race-class politics that focuses on the white majority and its possibilities—the most vulnerable segment of the white team is the one with the most fractures and ambiguities, something that it is not new in Amerikan history. And I believe that retooling our racial politics can be done without ignoring liberal-progressive whites. Lastly, those of us in the academy or in the media, must work hard at challenging students, colleagues, journalists, and anyone who will listen about the futility of talking about “the racists.” So comrades, time to get on with this hard work. If we do not, the Trump moment will take us back not just objectively (our standing in the racial order), but also theoretically (“the racist” concept will become bigger than ever) and politically (by focusing on “the racists,” we will not do what we must do to advance our struggle).
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Monday, January 23, 2017
Friday, January 20, 2017
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Monday, January 16, 2017
Friday, January 13, 2017
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Entrevista a Jim Jarmusch. “Un director que solo sabe de cine es un pésimo director”
Entrevista a Jim Jarmusch. “Un director que solo sabe de cine es un pésimo director”: Jim Jarmusch (Akron, Ohio, 1953) no sale sin su libreta negra. Anota películas, canciones, libros, pinturas, fotógrafos, calles o citas que le interesan. “Lo mejor que un director de cine puede hacer –me dijo a unas horas de su intervención en Tag CDMX, el festival de creatividad organizado por Arca– es interesarse por el mayor número de cosas.” Jarmusch es un icono del cine independiente estadounidense que se ha mantenido vigente durante más de tres décadas, de Vacaciones permanentes (1980), pasando por Extraños en el paraíso (1984), Bajo el peso de la ley (1986), El tren del misterio (1989), Hombre muerto (1995), Ghost Dog, el camino del samurái (1999) y Flores rotas (2005), hasta las dos cintas que estrenó este año, Paterson y Gimme danger, un documental sobre Iggy Pop y The Stooges. Durante esta conversación revisé que anotara correctamente los nombres de Fernando Eimbcke y Carlos Reygadas en su libreta.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
