{"id":13457,"date":"2016-11-16T18:17:56","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T23:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/?p=13457"},"modified":"2020-04-19T13:56:14","modified_gmt":"2020-04-19T17:56:14","slug":"13457","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/2016\/11\/16\/13457\/","title":{"rendered":"Alain Badiou: Reflections on the Recent Election"},"content":{"rendered":"

15 November 2016\u00a0 From a Verso blog<\/a><\/p>\n

In French: \u201cC\u2019\u00e9tait pendant l\u2019horreur d\u2019une pro\u00adfonde nuit.<\/em>\u201d In Eng\u00adlish: \u201cIt was dur\u00ading the hor\u00adror of a\u00a0pro\u00adfound night.\u201d\u00a0 Racine<\/p>\n

Thinking beyond reactive affect<\/strong>
\nI\u00a0think it\u2019s a\u00a0neces\u00adsity to think bey\u00adond the affect<\/span><\/strong>, bey\u00adond fear, depres\u00adsion, and so on \u2014 to think the situ\u00adation of today, the situ\u00adation of the world today, where some\u00adthing like that is pos\u00adsible, that some\u00adbody like Trump becomes the pres\u00adid\u00adent of the United States.<\/p>\n

The his\u00adtor\u00adic\u00adal vic\u00adtory of glob\u00adal\u00adized cap\u00adit\u00adal\u00adism<\/strong>
\nThe victory was signaled in the 1980s by Margaret Thatcher and the complete failure of Russia and China and this marked an important change in subjectivity.<\/p>\n

“Dur\u00ading more than two cen\u00adtur\u00adies, there exis\u00adted in pub\u00adlic opin\u00adion, always two ways con\u00adcern\u00ading the des\u00adtiny of human beings. We can say that, before approx\u00adim\u00adately the 80s of the last cen\u00adtury, we have always at the very gen\u00ader\u00adal level, the sub\u00adject\u00adive gen\u00ader\u00adal level, two pos\u00adsib\u00adil\u00adit\u00adies con\u00adcern\u00ading the his\u00adtor\u00adic\u00adal des\u00adtiny of human beings.First, the way of lib\u00ader\u00adal\u00adism, in its clas\u00adsic\u00adal sense. Here, lib\u00ader\u00adal has many sig\u00adni\u00adfic\u00ada\u00adtions, but I take lib\u00ader\u00adal in its prim\u00adit\u00adive sense, that is, fun\u00adda\u00adment\u00adally that private prop\u00ader\u00adty is the key of social organ\u00adiz\u00ada\u00adtion<\/strong><\/span>, at the price of enorm\u00adous inequal\u00adit\u00adies, but the price is the price. At the end, for lib\u00ader\u00adal\u00adism, private prop\u00ader\u00adty must be the key of social organ\u00adiz\u00ada\u00adtion. And on the oth\u00ader side, we have the social\u00adist way, the com\u00admun\u00adist way<\/span><\/strong> \u2014 there are dif\u00adfer\u00adent words \u2014 in their abstract sense, that is, the end of inequal\u00adit\u00adies must be the most fun\u00adda\u00adment\u00adal goal of human polit\u00adic\u00adal activ\u00adity. The end of inequal\u00adit\u00adies even at the price of viol\u00adent revolu\u00adtion. So on one side, peace\u00adful vis\u00adion of his\u00adtory as the con\u00adtinu\u00adation of some\u00adthing which is very old, that is, private prop\u00ader\u00adty as the key of social organ\u00adiz\u00ada\u00adtion, and on the oth\u00ader side, some\u00adthing new, some\u00adthing which prob\u00adably begins with the French Revolu\u00adtion, which is the pro\u00adpos\u00adi\u00adtion that there is another way, that in some sense, the con\u00adtinu\u00adity of the his\u00adtor\u00adic\u00adal exist\u00adence of human beings must accept a rup\u00adture between a very long sequence where inequal\u00adit\u00adies, private prop\u00ader\u00adty, and so on are the law of col\u00adlect\u00adive exist\u00adence, and another vis\u00adion of what is that sort of des\u00adtiny, and the most import\u00adant being in fact the ques\u00adtion of equal\u00adity and inequal\u00adity, and this con\u00adflict between lib\u00ader\u00adal\u00adism in its clas\u00adsic\u00adal sense, and the new idea under many dif\u00adfer\u00adent names \u2013 anarchy, com\u00admun\u00adism, social\u00adism and so on \u2014 is prob\u00adably the great sig\u00adni\u00adfic\u00ada\u00adtion of the 19th cen\u00adtury and of a big part of the next cen\u00adtury too.”<\/p>\n

The historical destiny of humans as such<\/strong>
\nSo, dur\u00ading approx\u00adim\u00adately near two cen\u00adtur\u00adies, we have some\u00adthing like a\u00a0stra\u00adtegic choice, con\u00adcern\u00ading not only the loc\u00adal events of polit\u00adics, the nation\u00adal oblig\u00ada\u00adtions, the wars and so on, but con\u00adcern\u00ading what is really the his\u00adtor\u00adic\u00adal des\u00adtiny of human beings as such, the his\u00adtor\u00adic\u00adal des\u00adtiny of the con\u00adstruc\u00adtion of human\u00adity as such.<\/p>\n

1980 signals the end of this choice and rise of neo-liberalism<\/strong>
\n“We have today in fact the dom\u00adin\u00adant idea that there exists no glob\u00adal choice, that there is no oth\u00ader solu\u00adtion. It was the word of Thatch\u00ader: no oth\u00ader solu\u00adtion. No oth\u00ader solu\u00adtion except, nat\u00adur\u00adally, lib\u00ader\u00adal\u00adism, or today gen\u00ader\u00adally we speak of neo\u00adlib\u00ader\u00adal\u00adism.”<\/p>\n

Capitalism be full of holes but its the only real possibility<\/strong>
\n“And so you know in the con\u00adtem\u00adpor\u00adary pro\u00adpa\u00adganda, the point is not to say that glob\u00adal\u00adized cap\u00adit\u00adal\u00adism is excel\u00adlent, because it\u2019s clear that it\u2019s not. Every\u00adbody knows that. Every\u00adbody knows that mon\u00adstrous inequal\u00adit\u00adies can\u00adnot be a solu\u00adtion of the his\u00adtor\u00adic\u00adal des\u00adtiny of human beings \u2014 every\u00adbody knows that. But the argu\u00adment is, \u201cOkay, it\u2019s not so good, but it\u2019s the only real pos\u00adsib\u00adil\u00adity.\u201d<\/p>\n

A definition of the human subject under global capitalism<\/strong>
\n“So, we can define our moment as the moment of the prim\u00adit\u00adive con\u00advic\u00adtion of lib\u00ader\u00adal\u00adism as dom\u00adin\u00adant in the form that private prop\u00ader\u00adty and free mar\u00adket com\u00adpose the unique pos\u00adsible des\u00adtiny of human beings<\/strong><\/span>. And it\u2019s also a defin\u00adi\u00adtion of a human sub\u00adject. What is, in this vis\u00adion, a human sub\u00adject? A human sub\u00adject is a beg\u00adgar, a con\u00adsumer, an own\u00ader, or noth\u00ading at all.<\/span><\/strong> That is the strict defin\u00adi\u00adtion today of what is a human being. So that is the gen\u00ader\u00adal vis\u00adion, the gen\u00ader\u00adal prob\u00adlem, and the gen\u00ader\u00adal law of the con\u00adtem\u00adpor\u00adary world.”<\/p>\n

Monster of global capitalism<\/strong>
\nWe have the fun\u00adda\u00adment\u00adal phe\u00adnom\u00adena of con\u00adcen\u00adtra\u00adtion of cap\u00adit\u00adal; the con\u00adcen\u00adtra\u00adtion of cap\u00adit\u00adal is some\u00adthing extraordin\u00adary today. We must know that today 264 per\u00adsons have as their prop\u00ader\u00adty the equi\u00adval\u00adent of 3\u00a0bil\u00adlion oth\u00ader people.<\/span><\/strong> It\u2019s much more than in the prim\u00adit\u00adive exist\u00adence of mon\u00adarchy and so on. Inequal\u00adity today is much more import\u00adant than in every oth\u00ader situ\u00adation in the his\u00adtory of human beings.<\/p>\n

Death of politics<\/strong>
\nSo, pro\u00adgress\u00adively \u2014 and that is the most import\u00adant con\u00adsequence con\u00adcern\u00ading the elec\u00adtion of Trump \u2014 pro\u00adgress\u00adively, all the polit\u00adic\u00adal olig\u00adarchy, all the polit\u00adic\u00adal class, becomes the same group, at the level of the world itself. A\u00a0group of people which is only abstractly divided: Repub\u00adlic\u00adans and Demo\u00adcrats, Social\u00adists and Lib\u00ader\u00adals, Left and Right, and so on.<\/span><\/strong> All that sort of divi\u00adsion today is purely abstract and not real, because all that lies in the same eco\u00adnom\u00adic and polit\u00adic\u00adal back\u00adground. …<\/p>\n

The exer\u00adcise of polit\u00adics today is the exer\u00adcise of very small dif\u00adfer\u00adences inside the same glob\u00adal way. But all that has many effects on people in gen\u00ader\u00adal; effects of dis\u00ador\u00adi\u00adent\u00ada\u00adtion, total absence of ori\u00adent\u00ada\u00adtion or dir\u00adec\u00adtion of life, no stra\u00adtegic vis\u00adion of the future of human\u00adity, and in that sort of situ\u00adation a\u00a0big part of the people search in obscur\u00adity on the side of false nov\u00adel\u00adties, irra\u00adtion\u00adal vis\u00adions, and return to dead tra\u00addi\u00adtions, and so on.<\/p>\n

Trump represents a sort of democratic fascism<\/strong>
\n… a\u00a0sort of demo\u00adcrat\u00adic fas\u00adcism, that is, they are inside the demo\u00adcrat\u00adic plane, inside the demo\u00adcrat\u00adic appar\u00adat\u00adus, but they play some\u00adthing dif\u00adfer\u00adent, another music, in that sort of con\u00adtext. And, I\u00a0think it\u2019s not only the case here, with Don\u00adald Trump \u2014 racist,\u00a0machiste\u00a0<\/em>[macho], viol\u00adent, and also, which is a\u00a0fas\u00adcist char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adist\u00adic, without any con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion for logic or ration\u00adal\u00adity; because the dis\u00adcourse, the mode of speak\u00ading of that sort of demo\u00adcrat\u00adic fas\u00adcism is pre\u00adcisely a\u00a0sort of dis\u00adlo\u00adca\u00adtion of lan\u00adguage, a\u00a0sort of pos\u00adsib\u00adil\u00adity to say any\u00adthing, and the con\u00adtrary of any\u00adthing \u2014 there is no prob\u00adlem, the lan\u00adguage is not the lan\u00adguage of explan\u00ada\u00adtion, but a\u00a0lan\u00adguage to cre\u00adate some affects; it\u2019s an affect\u00adive lan\u00adguage which cre\u00adates a\u00a0false unity but a\u00a0prac\u00adtic\u00adal unity<\/span><\/strong>. And so, we have that with Don\u00adald Trump, but it has been the case before in Ita\u00adly with Ber\u00adlusconi<\/span>. Ber\u00adlusconi may be, I\u00a0think, the first fig\u00adure of that sort of new demo\u00adcrat\u00adic fas\u00adcism, with exactly the same char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adist\u00adics: vul\u00adgar\u00adity, a\u00a0sort of patho\u00adlo\u00adgic\u00adal rela\u00adtion\u00adship to women, and the pos\u00adsib\u00adil\u00adity to say and to do, pub\u00adlicly, some things which are unac\u00adcept\u00adable for the big part of human beings today. But that was the case also with Orb\u00e1n in Hun\u00adgary today, and in my sense, in France, it has been the case with Sarkozy. And it\u2019s also the case pro\u00adgress\u00adively in India or the Phil\u00adlipines, and even in Poland or in Tur\u00adkey. So it\u2019s really, at the scale of the world, the appar\u00adi\u00adtion of a\u00a0new fig\u00adure of polit\u00adic\u00adal determ\u00adin\u00ada\u00adtion which is a\u00a0fig\u00adure which is very often inside the demo\u00adcrat\u00adic con\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adtion but which is in some sense also out\u00adside. And I\u00a0think that we can name fas\u00adcists \u2014 because it was the case in the thirties; after all, Hitler was also vic\u00adtori\u00adous in elec\u00adtions \u2014 so I\u00a0name fas\u00adcist that sort of guy who is inside the demo\u00adcrat\u00adic play, but in some sense also out\u00adside: inside\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0out\u00adside<\/span>.<\/p>\n

A fatal dialectics of 4 terms<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. the com\u00adplete bru\u00adtal\u00adity and blind viol\u00adence of the cap\u00adit\u00adal\u00adism<\/span> of today. …sav\u00adage con\u00adquer\u00ading, sav\u00adage fight of every\u00adbody again\u00adst every\u00adbody, for dom\u00adin\u00ada\u00adtion<\/li>\n
  2. the decom\u00adpos\u00adi\u00adtion of the clas\u00adsic\u00adal polit\u00adic\u00adal olig\u00adarchy. The clas\u00adsic\u00adal parties \u2014 Demo\u00adcrat, Repub\u00adlic\u00adan, Social\u00adist, et al. \u2014 decom\u00adpos\u00adi\u00adtion in the dir\u00adec\u00adtion, finally, of the appar\u00adi\u00adtion of a sort of new fas\u00adcism.<\/span> We don\u2019t know the future of that sort of appar\u00adi\u00adtion: what is the future of Trump? In some sense, we don\u2019t know, really, and may\u00adbe Trump doesn\u2019t know his prop\u00ader des\u00adtiny. It was vis\u00adible in the night. You have the Trump before the power and the Trump in the power, who is in some sense afraid; not com\u00adpletely sat\u00adis\u00adfied, because he knows that he can\u00adnot speak as freely as before. And to speak freely was exactly the potency of Trump, but now with the gov\u00adern\u00adment, the admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion, the army, eco\u00adnom\u00adists, bankers and so on, it\u2019s another story. And so, we have seen in the night Trump passing from one play to another play, from one theatre to another theatre; and in the second theatre it was not so good, not so good as before. But we don\u2019t know, really, we don\u2019t know what is the real pos\u00adsib\u00adil\u00adity of that sort of guy when he becomes pres\u00adid\u00adent of the United States<\/span>.<\/li>\n
  3. we have the pop\u00adular frus\u00adtra\u00adtion, the feel\u00ading of an obscure dis\u00adorder<\/span><\/strong>, in the pub\u00adlic opin\u00adion of many people, and prin\u00adcip\u00adally the poor people, the people of pro\u00advin\u00adcial states, the peas\u00adants of many coun\u00adtries, and also the work\u00aders without a\u00a0job, and so on \u2014 all that pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion, which pro\u00adgress\u00adively is reduced by the bru\u00adtal\u00adity of con\u00adtem\u00adpor\u00adary cap\u00adit\u00adal\u00adism, to noth\u00ading at all, which has no pos\u00adsible exist\u00adence, and which stays, in some places, without jobs, without money, without ori\u00adent\u00ada\u00adtion, without exist\u00aden\u00adtial ori\u00adent\u00ada\u00adtion. And this point is the third very import\u00adant term of the glob\u00adal situ\u00adation today. The lack of ori\u00adent\u00ada\u00adtion, of sta\u00adbil\u00adity, the feel\u00ading of the destruc\u00adtion of their world, without the con\u00adstruc\u00adtion of another world; so a\u00a0sort of void destruc\u00adtion<\/span><\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  4. And the last term, the fourth term, is the lack, the com\u00adplete lack, of another stra\u00adtegic way; the absence, today, of another stra\u00adtegic way<\/span><\/strong>. There exist many polit\u00adic\u00adal exper\u00adi\u00adences \u2014 I\u00a0don\u2019t say that there is noth\u00ading at all on this side. We know new riots, new occu\u00adpa\u00adtion of places, new mobil\u00adisa\u00adtion, new eco\u00adlo\u00adgic\u00adal determ\u00adin\u00ada\u00adtion and so on. So, it\u2019s not the absence of all forms of res\u00adist\u00adance, prot\u00adest\u00ada\u00adtion \u2014 no, I\u00a0don\u2019t say that. But the lack of another stra\u00adtegic way, that is, some\u00adthing which is at the same level as the con\u00adtem\u00adpor\u00adary con\u00advic\u00adtion that cap\u00adit\u00adal\u00adism is the only way pos\u00adsible. The lack of the strength of the affirm\u00ada\u00adtion of another way. And the lack of what I\u00a0name an Idea, a\u00a0great Idea.<\/span><\/strong> A\u00a0great Idea<\/strong> which is the pos\u00adsib\u00adil\u00adity of uni\u00adfic\u00ada\u00adtion, glob\u00adal uni\u00adfic\u00ada\u00adtion, stra\u00adtegic uni\u00adfic\u00ada\u00adtion of all forms of res\u00adist\u00adance and inven\u00adtion. An Idea is a\u00a0sort of medi\u00adation between the indi\u00advidu\u00adal sub\u00adject and the col\u00adlect\u00adive his\u00adtor\u00adic\u00adal and polit\u00adic\u00adal task, and it\u2019s the pos\u00adsib\u00adil\u00adity of action across and with very dif\u00adfer\u00adent sub\u00adjectiv\u00adit\u00adies<\/span><\/strong>, but under the same Idea in some\u00a0sense.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What is to be done?<\/strong>
    \nI think we must affirm that one reas\u00adon for the suc\u00adcess of Trump is that the true con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion today, the real con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion today, the most import\u00adant con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion can\u00adnot be between two forms of the same world. The world of glob\u00adal\u00adized cap\u00adit\u00adal\u00adism, of imper\u00adi\u00adal\u00adist wars, and of lack of any Idea con\u00adcern\u00ading the des\u00adtiny of human beings. I know that Hil\u00adlary Clin\u00adton and Don\u00adald Trump are very dif\u00adfer\u00adent<\/strong> \u2014 I am not say\u00ading we should identi\u00adfy Trump and Hil\u00adlary Clin\u00adton, but this dif\u00adfer\u00adence, which is import\u00adant\u2026 there exists a level where this dif\u00adfer\u00adence, that is the dif\u00adfer\u00adence between new fas\u00adcism and old polit\u00adic\u00adal olig\u00adarchy \u2014 and all polit\u00adic\u00adal olig\u00adarchy is less hor\u00adrible than new fas\u00adcism, so I under\u00adstand per\u00adfectly that at the end we prefer Hil\u00adlary Clin\u00adton \u2014 but we can\u00adnot for\u00adget that in some sense this dif\u00adfer\u00adence is inside the same world<\/span><\/strong>. It\u2019s not the expres\u00adsion of two dif\u00adfer\u00adent stra\u00adtegic vis\u00adions of the world. And I think the suc\u00adcess of Trump is pos\u00adsible only because the true con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion of the world can\u00adnot be expressed, can\u00adnot be sym\u00adbol\u00adized, by the oppos\u00adi\u00adtion between Hil\u00adlary Clin\u00adton and Trump<\/strong><\/span>, because Hil\u00adlary Clin\u00adton and Trump are in the same world \u2014 very dif\u00adfer\u00adent, but very dif\u00adfer\u00adent in the same world.<\/span><\/p>\n

    True contradiction is between Trump and Bernie Sanders, and this is where we need to go. Formenting a true rather than false contradiction<\/strong>
    \nThe contradiction between Hilary and Trump was a relative contradiction whereas that between Trump and Sanders was an absolute contradiction.
    \n“In some sense, the con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion between Hil\u00adlary Clin\u00adton and Trump was a rel\u00adat\u00adive con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion and not an abso\u00adlute one; that is, a con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion in the same para\u00admet\u00aders, in the same con\u00adstruc\u00adtion of the world. But the con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion between Bernie Sanders and Trump was in fact the begin\u00adning of the pos\u00adsib\u00adil\u00adity of a true con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion; that is, a con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion with a world and some\u00adthing which is bey\u00adond the world. In some sense, Trump was really on the side of react\u00adive and obscure pop\u00adular sub\u00adjectiv\u00adity, inside the world as it is, but Bernie Sanders was on the side of ration\u00adal, act\u00adive and clear pop\u00adular sub\u00adjectiv\u00adity, ori\u00adented bey\u00adond the world as it is, even in some\u00adthing which was unclear \u2014 unclear, but bey\u00adond the world as it is.”<\/p>\n

    So the res\u00adult of the elec\u00adtion is of a con\u00adser\u00advat\u00adive nature, it\u2019s purely con\u00adser\u00advat\u00adive, because it\u2019s the res\u00adult of a false con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion, in some sense, a con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion which is not a true con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion, and which is also, across this elec\u00adtion, the con\u00adtinu\u00adation of the crisis of today, the crisis of the four terms I explained before. Today, again\u00adst Trump, we can\u00adnot desire Clin\u00adton, or some\u00adbody of the same fig\u00adure. We must cre\u00adate a return, if it is pos\u00adsible, to the true con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion; it\u2019s the les\u00adson of that sort of ter\u00adrible event. That is, we must pro\u00adpose a polit\u00adic\u00adal ori\u00adent\u00ada\u00adtion which goes bey\u00adond the world as it is, even if it is, at the begin\u00adning, in a not com\u00adpletely clear man\u00adner. When we begin some\u00adthing, we have not the com\u00adplete devel\u00adop\u00adment of that thing. But we must begin. We must begin, which is the point. After Trump, we must begin. It\u2019s not only to res\u00adist, to neg\u00adate and so on. We must begin some\u00adthing, really, and this ques\u00adtion of the begin\u00adning is the begin\u00adning of the return to the true con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion, to a real choice, to a real stra\u00adtegic choice con\u00adcern\u00ading the ori\u00adent\u00ada\u00adtion of human beings.<\/p>\n

    … it\u2019s pos\u00adsible to cre\u00adate, once more, a polit\u00adic\u00adal field with two stra\u00adtegic ori\u00adent\u00ada\u00adtions, and not only one. The return of some\u00adthing which has been the occa\u00adsion of the great polit\u00adic\u00adal move\u00adment of 19th cen\u00adtury and of the begin\u00adning of the last cen\u00adtury. We must, if I can say some\u00adthing in a philo\u00adsoph\u00adic\u00adal man\u00adner, we must go bey\u00adond the One, in the dir\u00adec\u00adtion of the Two<\/span><\/strong>. Not one ori\u00adent\u00ada\u00adtion, but two ori\u00adent\u00ada\u00adtions. The cre\u00adation of a new return to a new fun\u00adda\u00adment\u00adal choice as the very essence of polit\u00adics. In fact, if there is only one stra\u00adtegic way, polit\u00adics pro\u00adgress\u00adively dis\u00adap\u00adpears, and in some sense, Trump is the sym\u00adbol of that sort of dis\u00adpar\u00adi\u00adtion, because, what is the polit\u00adics of Trump? Nobody knows. It\u2019s some\u00adthing like a fig\u00adure and not a polit\u00adics. So the return to polit\u00adics is by neces\u00adsity the return of the exist\u00adence of a real choice. So, finally, at the level of philo\u00adsoph\u00adic\u00adal gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adit\u00adies, it\u2019s the dia\u00adlect\u00adic\u00adal return to the real Two bey\u00adond the One<\/strong>, and we can pro\u00adpose some names for that sort of return.<\/p>\n

    4 points in the creation of this new political field<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. COLLECTIVISM AGAINST PRIVATE PROPERTY<\/p>\n

    … it\u2019s not a\u00a0neces\u00adsity that the key of social organ\u00adiz\u00ada\u00adtion lies in private prop\u00ader\u00adty\u00a0and mon\u00adstrous inequal\u00adit\u00adies<\/span>.\u00a0It\u2019s not a\u00a0neces\u00adsity. We must affirm that it\u2019s not a\u00a0neces\u00adsity. And we can organ\u00adize lim\u00adited exper\u00adi\u00adences which demon\u00adstrate that it\u2019s not a\u00a0neces\u00adsity, that it\u2019s not true that forever private prop\u00ader\u00adty and mon\u00adstrous inequal\u00adit\u00adies must be the law of the becom\u00ading of human\u00adity.<\/p>\n

    2. POLYMORPHOUS WORKER AGAINST SPECIALIZATION<\/p>\n

    … it\u2019s not a\u00a0neces\u00adsity that work\u00aders will be sep\u00adar\u00adated between noble work, like intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal cre\u00adation, or dir\u00adec\u00adtion, or gov\u00adern\u00adment, and, on the oth\u00ader side, manu\u00adal work and com\u00admon mater\u00adi\u00adal exist\u00adence<\/span>. So the spe\u00adcial\u00adiz\u00ada\u00adtion of the label is not an etern\u00adal law, and espe\u00adcially the oppos\u00adi\u00adtion between intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal work and manu\u00adal work must be sup\u00adpressed in the long term. It\u2019s the second prin\u00adciple.<\/p>\n

    3. CONCRETE UNIVERSALISM AGAINST CLOSED IDENTITIES<\/p>\n

    … it\u2019s not a\u00a0neces\u00adsity for human beings to be sep\u00adar\u00adated by nation\u00adal, racial, reli\u00adgious or sexu\u00adal bound\u00adar\u00adies. The equal\u00adity must exist across dif\u00adfer\u00adences, and so dif\u00adfer\u00adence is an obstacle to equal\u00adity. Equal\u00adity must be a\u00a0dia\u00adlectics of dif\u00adfer\u00adence itself, and we must refuse that in the name of dif\u00adfer\u00adences, equal\u00adity is impossible<\/span>. So bound\u00adar\u00adies, refus\u00adal of the Oth\u00ader, in any form, all that must dis\u00adap\u00adpear. It\u2019s not a\u00a0nat\u00adur\u00adal\u00a0law.<\/p>\n

    4. FREE ASSOCIATION AGAINST THE STATE<\/p>\n

    …<\/span> it\u2019s not a\u00a0neces\u00adsity that there exists a\u00a0state<\/span>, in the form of a\u00a0sep\u00adar\u00adated and armoured power.<\/p>\n

    But with this prin\u00adciple, we can judge all polit\u00adic\u00adal pro\u00adgrammes, decisions, parties, ideas, from the point of view of these four prin\u00adciples. Take a decision: is this decision in the dir\u00adec\u00adtion of the four prin\u00adciples or not. The prin\u00adciples are the pro\u00adto\u00adcol of judge\u00adment con\u00adcern\u00ading all decisions, ideas, pro\u00adpos\u00adi\u00adtions. If a decision, a pro\u00adpos\u00adi\u00adtion, is in the dir\u00adec\u00adtion of the four prin\u00adciples, we can say it\u2019s a good one\u00a0<\/strong>…\u00a0If clearly it\u2019s again\u00adst the prin\u00adciples, it\u2019s a bad decision, bad idea, bad pro\u00adgram\u00adme.<\/p>\n

    So we have a prin\u00adciple of judge\u00adment in the polit\u00adic\u00adal field and in the con\u00adstruc\u00adtion of the new stra\u00adtegic pro\u00adject. That is in some sense the pos\u00adsib\u00adil\u00adity to have a true vis\u00adion of what is really in the new dir\u00adec\u00adtion, the new stra\u00adtegic dir\u00adec\u00adtion of human\u00adity as such.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    15 November 2016\u00a0 From a Verso blog In French: \u201cC\u2019\u00e9tait pendant l\u2019horreur d\u2019une pro\u00adfonde nuit.\u201d In Eng\u00adlish: \u201cIt was dur\u00ading the hor\u00adror of a\u00a0pro\u00adfound night.\u201d\u00a0 Racine Thinking beyond reactive affect I\u00a0think it\u2019s a\u00a0neces\u00adsity to think bey\u00adond the affect, bey\u00adond fear, depres\u00adsion, and so on \u2014 to think the situ\u00adation of today, the situ\u00adation of the … Continue reading “Alain Badiou: Reflections on the Recent Election”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,45,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agency","category-badiou","category-subjectivity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13457"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13987,"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13457\/revisions\/13987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}