Tag Archives: Enlightenment

Jamil Khader: “Liberal Politics and the Challenge of White Supremacy: Anti-anti-Eurocentrism and the Question of Identity Politics”

Posted on May 26, 2018 by

‘Liberal and leftist commentators thus need to draw the ultimate radical conclusion from this anti-anti-Eurocentric position: The struggle for racial justice must be grounded in a dialectical materialist understanding of “the gap” between the particular and the universal which, according to the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, not only destabilizes identity from within, but also serves as the foundation for a true universality. Žižek’s crucial point here is that identities should be taken up on the promise of actualizing this immanent universal dimension that was opened up precisely through the brutal history of genocide, slavery, colonialism, internment, etc.’

Posted in freedom, justice, Nota Bene, revolution, rights, Žižek

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Asim Qureshi: “Their Violence, Our Values: A History of European Responses to Political Dissent”

Posted on March 11, 2017 by

European responses to political dissent and terror:  “The post-French Revolution period witnessed an era of extreme repression; including the suspension of habeas corpus, installation of the security state, and widespread suppression of civil liberties, ultimately leading to further disenfranchisement. During the colonial period, these measures were taken to a completely new level, as the principles of counterinsurgency became entrenched. The War on Terror has resurrected and redeployed many of these same practices, the latest being the ideological drive against ‘extremism’. Today, it is surely time, more than ever, to rethink the way we approach the issue of political violence, and to refuse to let our fear determine our response.”

Posted in democracy, ethics, freedom, Nota Bene, revolution, terror, Uncategorized, violence

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