[...]of) any ="trms">sociopolitical process='strcls'>* (='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Foad, ='at'>@="frds">Sina)
(='strcls'>**collective action if impossible if people are not in the mood='strcls'>**)
='strcls'>*educational ="trms">material (='lgc'>='lgc'>~= ideological ="trms">material) ='lgc'>: ="trms">integrated attitude toward the ="trms">world='strcls'>*
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regulatory forces of ="trms">society construct (='lgc'>=/= control) behavior
='lgc'>[two feelings='lgc'>: you are ='strcls'>*constructed='strcls'>* but still might find yourself with ="trms">agency ='lgc'>=/= you are o="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">riginal (essential, special) and might find yourself ='strcls'>*controlled='strcls'>* by forces of ="trms">society ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- bad idea for political engagement='lgc'>]
='strcls'>**politics ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a sphere that is deeply imbricated in the visual regimes of ="trms">societies='strcls'>** (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> for me ='thdf'>that is why visual arts are so important='lgc'>: politics is always visual)
='strcls'>**politics ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">affect can explain the processes that are inexplicable through other functional explanations ='lgc'>+ ="trms">affect exists as an object of power (political formations are reactive to and formed by ="trms">affect)
="brkr">
(="ppl">Naveeda ="ppl">Khan)
Jinns and ="trms">children
a place for a ="trms">child to build conviviality / continuity with a creature made of smokeless fire
(the girl) she charts through a modality of “hearing”
..that which defines the normative, the duties, and ="trms">responsibilities that accompany observance of a ="trms">religious tradition.
="trms">different intensities by which the normative is reiterated
Jinns are also known to eavesdrop (esteragh-e sam’) on the angels in the lower reaches of heaven to acquire limited knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge of the future
the little mischievous spirits (nafs) that make up a self
='strcls'>**="trms">wonders of ="trms">children
="trms">children are born free of sin and have the ability to ="trms">communicate without reason (aghl) and therefore carry the threat of being easily led astray
8 year-old Maryam, channeling ="trms">communication between the jinn and her family
a time that she would look into the palms of her hand (to see what the jinn would have her see)
she ="trms">instructed the jinn that he could enter her father's body, with his per="trms">mission, jinn wanted to taste human food
her father and brothers would ="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">listen carefully to her descriptions
(="trms">authoritative figure of the father becomes the pupil of his little daughter hearing her words of advice)='lgc'>--alterity
“in the middle east, the ="trms">child is seen as the crucial generational link in the family unit, the key to its continuation, the living person that ties the ="trms">present to the ="trms">past and to the future” (Ferena 1005)
“in the indian case ...the ="trms">child is seen as al="trms"nttrm="already,spread">ready being full person in domains to which the mother does not have access” (="ppl">Veena Das 1989)
...healer or magician may utilize a ="trms">child to bring into ="trms">presence or ="trms">communicate with the spiritual being
(='strcls'>***the ="trms">presence of ="trms">child in Ma'rekeh-Giri معرکه گیری='qstn'>?='strcls'>***)
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ecstatic identifications with...
one could legitimately dream of the prophet, but one could never call him forth
both these paths escape jinn, having a dynamic if disruptive ="trms">presence within human ="trms">world, alongside the ="trms">presence of angels and saints
there can be no other experience of the prophet other than through the record of his words and deeds='qstn'>?='qstn'>?!!!
the daily struggle to ="trms">presence the prophet
علما olama ='lgc'>=/= بچه bache
face-to-face ='lgc'>=/= via-jinn
face-to-face learning from the olama (the ="trms">authoritative transmitters) versus a faceless and voiceless jinn with his ="trms">child serving as its ventriloquist (arusak gardan)
activating competing bodies of knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge and sets of ="trms">relations
(in the hope that one of them will pay off)
insistence on a modicum ='lgc'>[minimum amount='lgc'>] of consistency
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...enmeshed within a certain unintentional malevolence existing alongside generosity.
="prgrph">-malevolence is something that holds out the possibility of harm rather than actively intending it
="prgrph">-generosity is the willingness to concede to others rather than a nobility of character
(also the dilemma of introducing the jinn to your ="trms">child)
“exposing” his ="trms">children to their disruptive yet generative powers
‘exposure of ="trms">children to evil’
the innate resource of ="trms">children
(for Zezru) the ="trms">children are pure, they re="trms">present non-evil. they belong to shades. their innocence does not imply a state of passivity.
what regions of experience and expression the ="trms">child has access to='qstn'>?
innate resources of ="trms">children
Reynolds
="trms">children’s own resources are bolstered by the protection afforded by living and dead kin
a parent (or guardian), cannot know in advance what regions of experience and expression the ="trms">child has access to or what he or she is capable of
in Islam='lgc'>: ="trms">children are considered to have a certain strength and pre="trms">science that makes them effective as conduits to the ="trms">world of spirits ='lgc'>=/= innocent creatures to be protected
="lsts lst1">•="trms">children are free of ="trms">religious ="trms">obligations up to the age when they are seen as maturing
="lsts lst1">•protected by countercharms and exorcism only to an extent
a certain unintentional malevolence existing alongside generosity
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]malevolence='lgc'>: something that holds out the possibility of harm (='lgc'>=/= actively intending harm)
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]generosity='lgc'>: the willingness to concede to others (='lgc'>=/= a nobility of character)
="trms">religious ="trms">differences ='lgc'>--="trms">materialized='lgc'>='lgc'>-->
="lsts lst1">•as a malevolent witch
="lsts lst1">•in a father’s potentially malevolent ="trms">instrumentalization of his daughter (bringing the jinn home)
parsayi پارسایی
='strcls'>*pious self='lgc'> = com="trms">position of a series of ='strcls'>*presubjective singularities='strcls'>* (standing alongside one another ='lgc'>[within a milieu comprising other such series/="trms">seriousnesses='lgc'>])
='lgc'>=/= self-contradictory subject arching toward resolution
='lgc'>=/= norm-bearing subject that has achieved coherence
(='strcls'>*presubjective singularities='strcls'>*)
let's explore how a self moves alone this series of singularities, what brings about movement, and where may it be tending ='lgc'>[wohin='lgc'>]
='lgc'>='lgc'>---="ppl">Naveeda='lgc'>='lgc'>--> presubjective singularities='lgc'>: ="trms">different versions of oneself that are not sharply distinguished from one another but are nonetheless distinct
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]subjectivity='lgc'>: whatever you do set yourself apart from others
Maryam's father, has moved from a version of himself that he knew to other versions of himself of which he did not have ="trms">prior knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge
his movement was toward the jinn and then away from them. so not in the series that constituted ‘him’, but also moved toward the series constituting the jinn. a zone of jinn becoming.
(or human becoming for the jinn)
allowing himself to be a multiplicity
“Our faith had become weak and our ="trms">obligatory worship was suffering.”
is Sulayman (the jinn) then the arc of a certain line of flight for Maryam='qstn'>?
friendship between a human (little sunni girl) and a nonhuman (jinn) ='lgc'>[='lgc'><='lgc'>-- enabled ='and'>& nurtured by the possibilities of malevolence ='lgc'>+ generosity='lgc'>] ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> movement within a field of negativity ='lgc'>==="ppl">Naveeda='lgc'>='lgc'>==> a means of gaining voice
artificiality of need in the everyday ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> this view eclipses what is at stake in the everyday life, what jeopardized it ="trms">internally and externally
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='strcls'>*the formation of selves within contemporary Muslim ="trms">societies='lgc'>:
(A) existence of multiple selves within an individual, which is context-dependent and ="trms">intersubjective. the individual may espouse ="trms">different self-re="trms">presentations at ="trms">different moments, these are not viewed as inconsistent to the illusion of wholeness (Ewing 1997)
(B) the subject acts on herself in such a way as to make the norm constitute her as pious self. this is a self that is generated through its particular emergence from and ="trms">interpenetration with, the norm. (Mahmood 2001)
(C) the self as the realm of presubjective possibilities. in ="ppl">Deleuze words “impersonal and pre-individual singularities” exists within a plane of immanence. “far from being individual or personal, singularities preside (take over and govern) over the genesis of individuals and persons; they are distributed in a ‘potential’ which admits neither Self not I, but which produces them by actualizing or realizing itself, although the figures of this actualization do not at all resemble the realized potential.” the actualizations are in link with his plane of immanence. (="ppl">Deleuze 1990)
a given individual moves between these qualities without necessarily ="trms">morphing into entirely ="trms">different selves ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>***="trms">difference ="trms">internal to being='strcls'>***
(that ‘="trms">difference’ is ="trms">internal to being)
to betray the immediate norm (of this ="trms">society) (to ensure a continued ="trms">relationship with them)
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but i am al="trms"nttrm="already,spread">ready moving to my next self
='strcls'>*ethics of ="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">listening
(1) ="trms">gestures as cultural text (="ppl">Clifford ="ppl">="frds scrmbld">Geertz)
(2) ="trms">codes to crack the regulative mechanisms of a ="trms">society (="ppl">="frds scrmbld">Pierre ="ppl">Bourdieu)
(3) how thinking proceeds apace with ="trms">gestures, how ="trms">gestures gather thought, sounded and unsounded, and how voice is incorporative ='lgc'>[tending to incorporate or in="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clude things='lgc'>] of these ="trms">gestures
(="ppl">Heidegger shows)
="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphysical ="trms">relation='lgc'>: think ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> speech
(only when one speaks, does he think='lgc'>--not the other way around)
temporality of ="trms">memory
(...it took them two years to re="trms">member to tell me this)
possession='lgc'>: is to be struck by any number of somatic illnesses or psychic effects of mysterious o="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rigins (Bown 1993)
mytho="trms">poetic (registers of Qur'an)
mytho="trms">poetic registers of everyday life
="large lg10" stl="font-size:133%">
Jinn can trick the humans into looking at a copy of them (and then change form or into formlessness)
the copies of time-honored practice of ="trms">embodying and transmitting the islamic tradition is now haunted by ='strcls'>*="trms">modern ="trms">anxieties='strcls'>*
Asb-e Imam-Hossein
it is in islamic tradition that being a muslim entails keeping up the illusory ="trms">nature of everyday life while also participating in it. (not ="trms">excessive withdrawal nor ="trms">excessive attachment)
='lgc'>[why isis breaks this='qstn'>?='lgc'>]
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='lgc'>[='not'>✕='lgc'>] ="trms">technologies of the “here and now”
='lgc'>[='not'>✕='lgc'>] ="trms">semiotic-tech of “elsewheres”
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>-->
(separated in the ="trms">past, ='strcls'>*="trms">ontological ="trms">difference='strcls'>*, a ="trms">fiction) in West='lgc'>: (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='thdf'>that is why ="ppl">="ppl">Latour ="trms">anthropologizes ="trms">modernism)
='strcls'>*='lgc'>[philosophy='lgc'>]='lgc'>--signals='lgc'>='lgc'>--> here (in Europe and West), selves
='strcls'>*='lgc'>[="trms">anthropology='lgc'>]='lgc'>--signals='lgc'>='lgc'>--> elsewhere, others ='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a wannabe discourse on Others
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (="trms">ontological ="trms">difference between ="trms">anthropology ='and'>& philosophy ='lgc'>[in their mode of immersion in the ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphysical='lgc'>] is part of) colonial ="trms">community, a form of ‘negation’ ='lgc'>=/= my recent antagonism ='lgc'>[the way i am studying is for ='strcls'>*extension='strcls'>*='lgc'>{= extending but also standing in tension with, a lineage(='lgc'>=/= rupture)='lgc'>} rather than ='strcls'>*negation='strcls'>*='lgc'>]='lgc'>: since i got into ="ppl">Olearius, 2017, I am developing recently a philosphpical-genealogical antagonism. (in ="nms">Iran we are used to philosophy ="trms">naturally inhabiting the otherness of Europe, among others, we never see them as ="trms">anthropological objects, but they see us as such. ='strcls'>*we don't think ethnographically about Others='strcls'>*)
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> my aim is to mix this while i am “here” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> i say life (also power and ethics) comes to attention ="trms">simultaneously ="trms">anthropologically and philosophically from elsewhere and here ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> to reed something from the outside ='lgc'>='lgc'>~= reterritorialization (of concepts, ="trms">interests, ="trms">affects, percepts,)='lgc'>]='lgc'>='lgc'>--> when concepts are reterritorialized they illuminate the ="trms">world ="trms">differently
='strcls'>*we need better construction of ="trms">past for building truly decolonial ="trms">community='strcls'>* ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- is my antagonism needed for this='qstn'>?
="trms">anthropology='lgc'>: a mode of heightened attentiveness to life
(="ppl">Singh)
="ppl">="ppl">Foucault, ="ppl">Benjamin, ="ppl">Derrida, ="ppl">Deleuze ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a loss of ="trms">anthropologically generated theory
(more than once in a single day i find myself paused to ="trms">wonder at) how thought moves
(long-standing philosophical between) dialectical and nondialectical genealogies of thought
="prgrph">-to be drawn to nondialectical is not the negation of dialectical, it is a way of thinking about the “="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">meta"-physics (="ppl">Singh)
philosophy reconciders this='lgc'>: ‘concepts come more explicitly to the surface as impressions grow into thoughts’ ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> no! no!
how philosophy relates to and draws on nonphilosophy (is usually geographical='strcls'>*)
more ="trms">differences='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•geographical='lgc'>: western/non-western
="lsts lst1">•naional='lgc'>: indian/french
="lsts lst1">•subdisciplinary='lgc'>: analytic/continental
(="trms">trajectories of Derrica, a tradition of) negative transcendence='lgc'>: différance, an absence that transcends “a” and “not a” ='lgc'>[='lgc'>=/= (="trms">trajectories of ="ppl">Deleuze, a tradition of) affirmative immanence, the self-="trms">differentiating intensities of “a”, com="trms">presence of “a"='lgc'>]
some ="ppl">Deleuzian terms='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•assemblages
="lsts lst1">•deterritorization
="lsts lst1">•becoming
="lsts lst1">•multiplicities
="lsts lst1">•="trms">excess
="lsts lst1">•="trms">schizophrenia (='lgc'>~ nondialectical thought, a nondialectical expression of ="trms">different polarities held together. use ‘split’ to create a philosophy, ='lgc'>[the ‘split’ ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphore is='lgc'>] an argument for the dynamism and temporality of the structure ='lgc'>=/= dialectical ="trms">historism and the ="ppl">Freudian unconscious) ='lgc'>-- ="trms">schizophrenia marks an unresolved, nondialectical tension
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> giving me a range of concepts with which to inhabit a plenitude of life ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> we need to create/borrow/steal/appropriate a range of concepts with which to inhabit the plenitude of life (in ="nms">Tehran) that exceeds all the time. (that which the political consciousness of contemporary ="nms">Tehran fails to grasp.) ='strcls'>***between moments of (my) departure and return (to ="nms">Iran) lay a whole ="trms">world, full of life (and hope)='strcls'>***
="ppl">Deleuze's hostility to dialectics
“we will misunderstand the whole of ="ppl">Nietzsche's work if we do not see ‘against whom’ its principal concepts are directed”
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]dialectics='lgc'>:
="lstsrd">1- ='thdf'>the idea of a power of the negative as a theoretical principle manifested in op="trms">position and contra="trms">diction
="lstsrd">2- the valorization of the “sad passions” as a practical principle ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> “the unhappy consciousness is the subject of the whole dialectic” (="ppl">Nietzsche)
="lstsrd">3- ='thdf'>the idea of ="trms">positivity as a theoretical and practical product of negation itself
="lsts lst1">•="ppl">Hegelian='lgc'>: a determinate negation, followed by a “higher” synthesis
="lsts lst1">•="ppl">Badiou 2000, Jameson 2009, Zizek 200k, a counterwave of contemporary dialecticians
dialectics='lgc'>: a habit of thought='lgc'>--variably expressed in ="trms">anthropology and philosophy and critical theory
postcolonial theory, critical theory, cultural studies ='lgc'><='lgc'>--(descendants of)='lgc'>-- negative dialectics ='lgc'>=/= affirmative nondialectics
to notice (over time) in ="nms">Tehran='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•="trms">relations involving ="trms">intergenerational servitude and nonnegotiable indebtedness
="lsts lst1">•expressed ="trms">relations of power
="lsts lst1">•other modes of spiritual and ="trms">material relatedness (that would be lost if i were to tell a ="trms">story that was only a variant of a master-slave dialectic)='strcls'>*
="lsts lst1">•ascetic qualities
="lsts lst1">•activist qualities
="lsts lst1">•='strcls'>*ways in which state power is implicated (behampichidan به هم پیچیدن) in the lives='strcls'>*
how do we piece together a ="trms">world='qstn'>?
="nms">ajayeb.net ='lgc'>=/= catalogue of ethnographic curiosities (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- be very carefull with this kind, ='at'>#wunderkammer)
encroachment tajavoz تجاوز
super important ="trms">questions for ="nms">Iranians='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•(the ="trms">question of) ='strcls'>*how we conceive of the state='strcls'>* and the hopes and disappointments that issue from those conceptions
="lsts lst1">•are there other ways to conceive sovereignty='qstn'>? ='lgc'>[other than the ="ppl">Agambenian conception='lgc'>: the sovereign power exerts a near totalizing force over an ="trms">abyss of “bare life"='lgc'> = state. (="ppl">Agamben's) decisionist totalizing ="trms">authority ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- (Schmitt's) secularized theological concepts ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- (="ppl">Hobbes’) theological ='thdf'>assumption of an omnipotence god='lgc'>] (='lgc'>--='not'>✕='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="ppl">Singh's very nice criticism='lgc'>:) “="ppl">Agamben's transcendentally negative dialectical concept of sovereingnty entails a totalizing elevation of Varuna (the terrible) in such a way as to wholly eliminate the potentialities, threats, and possibilities of Mitra ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> in its contemporary political philosophy most ="nms">iranians tend this way (in everyday life and forms)
="lsts lst1">•how might we ="trms">imagine a political theology that en="trms">folds more ambivalent potentialities='qstn'>? ='strcls'>****
="lsts lst1">•
(="ppl">Agamben swinging between the heightened extremes of redemption and catastrophe ='lgc'>[='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Lenna='lgc'>] ='lgc'>=/= ) ="ppl">Singh's bipolar concept, reconceptualization (of Dumezil arguing, ='strcls'>*force='strcls'>* and ='strcls'>*contract='strcls'>* together constitute sovereignty)='lgc'>:
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]Romulus (& Varuna) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> warrior ambitions ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> terrible and violent aspect of sovereignty; Varuna (='lgc'>--="ppl">="ppl">Foucault='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) as punitive power and force ="trms">morph into a range of disciplinary mechanisms ='lgc'>[='strcls'>*in a way ="ppl">="ppl">Foucault's entire carrier can be understood as a way of engaging Varuna in ="trms">different forms='lgc'>]
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]Numa (& Mitra) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> peaceful elder ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">embody contract, the friendlier, pact-making aspect of sovereignty (='lgc'>='lgc'>==> rule of law), producer of welfare and health and productive economy
khoshunat ='lgc'>+ refah خشونت و رفاه
we have to engage paradoxes of state power='lgc'>: capacity and incapacity (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> my point='lgc'>: the state in ="nms">Iran is ambiguous.)
='at'>#workshop='lgc'>: Studying State Power='lgc'>='lgc'>---in ="nms">Tehran we must explore theoretical alternatives to the concept of force='lgc'>: consent, contract, ="ppl">Singh's bipolar theory of force and contract, varying ideas of the “magic” of the state, ="ppl">="ppl">Foucault's governmentality ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> contemporary ="trms">anthropology of the state, we examine varying pictures of state incapacity
="lsts lst1">•requirements='lgc'>: willingness to engage challenging concepts and texts, weekly online comment, class ="trms">presentations and participation
="lsts lst1">•aims='lgc'>: a final essay='lgc'>: to make a coherent argument drawing on ="trms">anthropological and theoretical ="trms">literatures on state power
="lsts lst1">•axis='lgc'>: i work with ="ppl">Singh='lgc'>: that “there is no one correct answer we hope that students will come away with a better sense of the paradoxical coordinates of power such as violence and welfare, central to the making and unmaking of global ="trms">modernity”
="lsts lst1">•="trms"nttrm="already,spread">reading='lgc'>: we will gradually build up towards the more difficult texts and ideas.
="lsts lst1">•note='lgc'>: You will not necessarily receive a better grade for any external research or new information you bring in but on how well you relate to the texts and ideas we have discussed in class. two student ="trms">presentations. often a quieter, more considered ="trms">response will be more highly valued.
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='lgc'>[="ppl">Singh seeks to signal='lgc'>] a wider range of forces (of which “repression” sarkub سرکوب would be one) and forms of contract (modes of give and take that are not exactly captured by ='thdf'>the idea of “compassion” rahm رحم) ='lgc'>[='lgc'>=/= VOA or BBC's d="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">angerous notion of “informing” ="nms">iranians’ political awareness='lgc'>]
="prgrph">-these two forms exist as potential tendencies of power, two forms among others that ='strcls'>**power over life may take='strcls'>**
='strcls'>*tendencies='strcls'>* are not static or a="trms">historical ='lgc'>[- ="frds scrmbld">Foad's “tendencies” (to destiny)='lgc'>] ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> tendencies may ="trms">morph and take new shapes ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> they can also turn toxic when they are disappointed ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> we oscillate from redemption to catastrophe ='lgc'>=/= ='lgc'>[this is the kind of political act/project we need:='lgc'>] “with Mitra and Varuna (='lgc'>~ region of structural-potential tendencies) we are not giving up hope, but the project becomes more ="trms">specific='lgc'>: to track the particular degrees of force (many of which may be morally objectionable) and the modes of contract that are available in a polity” -="ppl">Singh
...="trms">gestured to tendencies of thought
='at'>@="nms">iranian friends
to inhabit Mitra and Varuna is to not give up all political hopes and criticism (='lgc'>=/= dialectical political logic ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> a final purifying battle ='lgc'>[='lgc'>~ ="frds scrmbld">Mehdi's totall earthquake offering a “higher” synthesis to his ="nms">Tehran in a destructive scenario='lgc'>])
='strcls'>*** the locus of disappointment (& hope) ='lgc'>[for ="nms">iranian='lgc'>] ='strcls'>***
a concept can='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•shift or reverse the locus of our hopes and disappointments
="lsts lst1">•gives us coordinates along which to pay closer attention
nondialectical thought ='lgc'>=/= law of noncontra="trms">diction ='lgc'>: you are either for or against (Islam, state, ...)
a kind of life-force that an older generation of ="trms">social ="trms">science would have called “="trms">agency”='lgc'>:
“she is fearless and has an amazing ability to bring people together”, i was drawn to the vitality that she ="trms">embody ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="ppl">Singh understands her life not simply as a unidirectional ="trms">story of “empowerment” or “="trms">agency” ='lgc'>[a ="trms">story many ="nms">iranians are caught in='lgc'>] but as a ='strcls'>*fluctuation between forms of strength and vulnerability='strcls'>*
(condition of life itself='lgc'>:) our particular strengths and vulnerabilities variably express themselves
...pushing a family from a ="trms">position of relative strength into near destitution
how do we conceptualize ="trms">relations between potentially hostile neighboring groups='qstn'>? (="ppl">Singh 2011)
='lgc'>[agonistics ='and'>& intimacies='lgc'>] ='lgc'>--how='lgc'>='lgc'>--> they may ="trms">traverse ="trms">different intensities ='lgc'>='lgc'>~='lgc'>~='lgc'>~='lgc'>~> ='strcls'>***="trms">differences ="trms">internal to a life='strcls'>***
agon (contest) ='lgc'>--="ppl">Singh='lgc'>='lgc'>--> agonistic intimacy='lgc'>: a way to understand the co-="trms">presence of modes of conflict and cohabitation, (='strcls'>*co-="trms">presence of violence and wellness='strcls'>*,) to leave open the possibility of a shared and contested future
jinn='lgc'>: a ="trms">category of spirit shared by popular hinduism and islam
who, usually turns out, is a lifelong conpanion
='strcls'>*a ="trms">relation that can be life-giving may also become life-denying
jinn and other minor spirits may also harbor the possibility of madness
='lgc'>[varying thresholds of life='lgc'>]
thinking of the dead, the unborn, spirits, and those participants among living ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> what kind of conception of life this requires='qstn'>? ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (="ppl">Deleuze > ="ppl">Singh's) ='strcls'>***varying thresholds of life='strcls'>*** (='lgc'>=/= ="ppl">Agamben's “bare life” ='lgc'>[='lgc'>--='not'>✕='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="ppl">Singh's starting point='lgc'>: how one thinks about life or vitality not just as bare life='lgc'>]) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> as a way of engaging ="trms">ancestors (such as ="frds scrmbld">Ehsan's little girl ghost ='lgc'>[='at'>#="frds scrmbld">Ehsan's brilliant ="trms">storytelling gives the “unbeliever” goosebumps from the intensities, the “incredible feeling of an unknown ="trms">Nature-="trms">affect” that he ="trms">embodies='lgc'>]), spirits, the undead, and the unborn who subsist alongside the living
='strcls'>*threshold='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•to denote points of passage accross phases of life
="lsts lst1">•refering to varying degrees of intensity (that may continue after death)='lgc'>='lgc'>--> as a spirit/jinn is preserved or recedes, through possession or in visions or ="trms">memories, enduring in potentially multiple dimensions
='strcls'>*a ="trms">memory, a dream, even a ="trms">hallucination is also a threshold of life='strcls'>*
="trms">agency of spirits ='lgc'>[jinn, abstract spirit of ="trms">modernity, secular education, Thakur Baba, , ,='lgc'>]='lgc'> = ='strcls'>*a threshold of life='strcls'>* (with its own immanent forms of movement and flux)
='lgc'>[-='lgc'>]lets not call it “disenchantment” or mere nostalgia, but ='strcls'>*a shift in the quality of life='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ethnographic investigation can be a form of heightened attentiveness (to varying thresholds of life ='lgc'>[to the intensities of ="frds scrmbld">Ehsan's ghost-girl, to the cannibal mice, ="nms">Tehran's earthquake synthesis of ="trms">affect, , ,='lgc'>]='lgc'>--(these ='lgc'>[="nms">Tehran's range of moods and intensities='lgc'>] are)='lgc'>='lgc'>--> waxing and waning گامهای ماه ='strcls'>*intensities immanent to a milieu; ="trms">affecting our ideas of ethics and politics)
the ="trms">social ='lgc'>=='qstn'>? “our” version of the transcendent/immanent ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphysical
how many dimensions is “our” ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphysical ="trms">composed of (in ="nms">Tehran)='qstn'>?
(Durkheim starts='lgc'>:) ="trms">religion='lgc'> = an engagement with a vital animating principle, “a kind of anonymous and impersonal force ='lgc'>[...='lgc'>] none possesses it entirely and all share in it”
="prgrph">-spirits, demons, jinns, gods of every rank are the ='strcls'>*concrete forms='strcls'>* that capture this energy, this ='strcls'>*potentiality='strcls'>*
(later Durkheim reduces this remarkable promising ="trms">formulation in his signiture from the ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphysical='lgc'>: “the moral ="trms">authority of ="trms">society”, ‘="trms">religion ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> solidarity انسجام’ ='lgc'>}='lgc'>=/= innumerable ="trms">anthropologists have shown how ="trms">religion does not necessarily “reawaken solidarity”)
(instead of “the ="trms">social” lets get ="trms">interested in more than one dimension of life, lets think, with ="ppl">Singh and ="ppl">Deleuze, of) ='strcls'>*vast continuum of human and nonhuman life='strcls'>*
“Baba, I have been troubled for years. What can I do to please my ="trms">ancestral spirits='qstn'>?”
Beyzai analyzes deities and myths in ="nms">Iran, negating any potential for spiriual movement between rival groups, even in what is clearly ='strcls'>*a form of ="trms">religious life moving across='strcls'>*
Beyzai preoccupation with defeat doesn't allow him to attend to ‘forms of ="trms">religious life moving across’
="lsts lst1">•bottom-up thesis of op="trms">positional negation and from its “top-down” op="trms">posite
='lgc'>=/= ='thdf'>the idea of spiritual conversation
imitation of ='lgc'>[upper caste,,,='lgc'>] values
='lgc'>[='strcls'>***='lgc'>]the fatality of these ideas of negation and of imitation is that they obscure the possibility of a spiritual in="trms">heritence that may be shared and contested in ways that create the possibility of a ='strcls'>*cohabited future between neighbors and rivals='strcls'>* (="ppl">Singh)
yes yes the ="trms">history might be made through bloody contra="trms">dictions, and yet, we cannot be as Magi, waiting for the big drama to un="trms">fold ='lgc'>--(we can do better)='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a sig="trms">nature capacity of ethnographic attentiveness in an affirmative lineage of thought ='lgc'>--(not to deny contra="trms">diction)='lgc'>='lgc'>--> to be able to sense ='strcls'>**varying intensities of conflict and cohabitation='strcls'>**
(play and war may both be latent in the give and take of everyday life, and the ="trms">difference may not always be clear-cut)
نیرومندی و کثرت اهالی و تعارضات کشمکش و جماع
(how='qstn'>?) (to be able to) sense varying intensities ='lgc'>[کیفیتی با شدت و سختی و حجم ='lgc'>='lgc'>~= انقباض ,در هم کشیدگی ='lgc'>+ شتافتن ,گرفته شدن ='lgc'>+ فراهم آمدن ,گرفتگی ,ترنجیدگی='lgc'>] of conflict and cohabitation='lgc'>[='lgc'>: my sister thinks of this term as family in small scale='lgc'>]
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">differential ='lgc'>[داراى ضريب متغير، افتراقی، تشخیص دهنده the result of ="trms">differentiation ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">different تمایز='lgc'>] intensities
bawdy مستهجن
intimate insults ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> accumulate deadly force
shifting intensities between a festival and a riot (are not necessarily a “="trms">modern” degeneration of traditional festivity) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the case of new year's eve in Köln 2016
(bad or good) heightened intensities ='lgc'>==(may animate)='lgc'>='lgc'>==> new political and ="trms">social movements or sustain the vitality of collective life ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> intensities may also wane and become deadended
concept of vitality='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•="ppl">Deleuze='lgc'>: intensity
="lsts lst1">•="ppl">Nietzsche='lgc'>: will to power
="lsts lst1">•="ppl">Bergson='lgc'>: elan vital
="lsts lst1">•Spinoza='lgc'>: conatus
as an ___ I ="trms">respond to this challange with an ___ic persona
officiator
='strcls'>***(my ="trms">methodology='lgc'>:) let's in="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clude in our dedication to X also a butt of ="trms">jokes and mimicry
i see you, among other things, as ethical actors
(recent work in ="trms">anthropology ='lgc'>='lgc'>==>) ethic ='lgc'>=/= simply instantiating “="trms">categorical imperatives” and ="trms">obligations, a journy from war (or politics, as the “continuation of war by other means”) to a nonagonistic equilibrium of “perpetual peace” (تعادل ناهنجارانه صلح دائمی)
='strcls'>*life often produces intensities and conflicts that cannot be accounted for by a ="trms">priori rules and ="trms">obligations
nobility='lgc'> = refusal of revenge
(="ppl">Nietzsche='lgc'>:) to sanctify revenge with the term justuce ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- characteristic debasement of agonistic ethics (رستم)
as though justice were simply a further development of the feeling of having been wronged ='strcls'>***
='strcls'>*agon='strcls'>* can ="trms">morph into a nobler, more animated form. it (can) come closer to life than to death
='strcls'>**(singular) energetic expression of vital life is not always “individual” ='strcls'>**
noble and base ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> they name a coordinate within (in ="trms">excess) of which life forces flow and way and wane
="ppl">Deleuze ='lgc'>+ ="ppl">Guattari ='lgc'>+ ="ppl">Nietzsche ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> an ethical imperative to examine the kinds of life forces we affirm. negation is not expelled ='lgc'>--(="ppl">Singh ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">reading D='lgc'>+G='lgc'>+N's ethnographic intuition)='lgc'>='lgc'>--> what ‘is’ may be richer than any ideal ‘ought’ ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">anthropology and philosophy, then, are two distinct but related ways in which life may be examined
to think affirmativelt ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> our negations become sharper
my recent knee-jerk reaction (for example to ="ppl">Olearius) would be to invoke Eurocentrism
(resist='lgc'>: “west” and “non-west”, built on entirely negative images of Europe, from which perspective postcolonial settings appear with double negativity from which they can never recover)
thoughtful moments among friends but scholastic and conversational traditions (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">Greek) ='lgc'>=/= “sage”, part of a larger conversational contest culture (not always between “friends” but is an agon ='lgc'>='lgc'>-->='qstn'>? Kelile-o Demne)
="prgrph">-other conceptual-conversational traditions (in ="nms">Iran,,,='qstn'>?) ='lgc'>[='thdf'>for example “taking an ="trms">author from behind and giving him a ="trms">child that would be his own offspring, yet ="trms">monstrous”, producing an ="trms">anthropologically oriented ="ppl">Deleuze, a ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">reading of ___ that produces a ___ically oriented ___='lgc'>]
='strcls'>*** it is not a ="trms">question of negating dialectices but of setting out a ="trms">different style of thought and examining the ethnographic and political consequences that follow ='strcls'>***
“when you asked him the ="trms">question about deities, you began a type of conversation called gyan-charcha ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge-talk ="trms">technique (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- my favorite mode of ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">reading of ="trms">literature, and basically everything, is like that)
='qstn'>?which concept(s) you use to think through these things='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•bonded and legitimate labor
="lsts lst1">•power ="trms">relations
="lsts lst1">•marriage
="lsts lst1">•sacrifice
="lsts lst1">•kinship
="lsts lst1">•intimacy
="lsts lst1">•buying
="lsts lst1">•selling
="lsts lst1">•
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the fabric of human relatedness depends on it
='strcls'>*='lgc'>[lunar enlightenment='lgc'>]='strcls'>*
(="ppl">Singh's beautiful lunar reterritorialization of “enlighting”='lgc'>:) what kind of light do we assume as our image of plenitude='qstn'>?
عجایب ماه ='at'>#moon's inflow-ence, waxing and waning intensities, fluctuating thresholds, the rise and fall of gods, tutelage of moon, a lunar rather than a solar sense of enlightenment, blemished and inconstant, the moon is nondialectical, ='strcls'>*neighbors lunacy='strcls'>*
="ppl">Derridean moment of negative transcendence
waxing and waning plenitude of that flux
="ppl">Singh='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•varying thresholds and intensities
="lsts lst1">•logics of a/not-a
="lsts lst1">•ethics and energetics ='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Sana
="lsts lst1">•
="lsts lst1">•
='strcls'>*** a shift of even a degree (say, a ="trms">different mode of contract or force) could be the ="trms">difference between ="trms">social life and death, happiness and despair, or exploitation and freedom ='strcls'>***
(="ppl">Singh teaching me to think about ="nms">Tehranians)
دروغ بد را با دروغ بهتر جایگزین کنیم نه با حقیقت
="ppl">Nietzsche's double affirmation, yes yes
="ppl">Deleuze, “the ass does not know how to say no because he says yes to everything with is no” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> to affirm is “to release, to set free what lives”
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='thdf'>the idea of “challage your pre="trms">suppositions” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> this is a dialectical habit of thought='lgc'>: ='thdf'>the idea that the sig="trms">nature moment of thinking is a determinate negation (of State, Islam, Europe, etc.) ="ppl">Singh asks='lgc'>: how did this particular mode of reflexivity come to stand in for “true” ="trms">anthropological thought='qstn'>?
would it have been better to leave things more “fluid” and “complex and contradictory”='qstn'>? ='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Eszter
ethnographic labor='lgc'>:
="lstsrd">1- a form of hunting and gathering impressions
="lstsrd">2- sifting الک کردن and cultivating expressions
(='mywrk'>my work in ="nms">apass='lgc'>:) our ="trms">relation to concepts becomes more explicit, as we turn impressions into considered thoughts
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thinking postcolonial ="trms"nttrm="disturban">urbanism with ="ppl">Anand Taneja
(this is the ="trms">question of the limitations of ="trms">imagination='lgc'>:)
how (for a generation of scholars ='lgc'>[or artists='lgc'>]) rural (india) ='lgc'>[or syria, ="nms">Iran, or South Korea='lgc'>] has become simply a space of disasters, statistics, and deaths ='lgc'>--='not'>✕='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="ppl">Anand's work is a counter-example ='lgc'>[i am learning from him to be attentive to my own ="trms">imagination's stopping-points. to resist ="trms">stories that render life in those milieus unthinkable='lgc'>] ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> that those spaces are not only of abjection but also of ="trms">imagination and curiosity ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> to think about alternative (conceptual) ="trms">vocabularies to think about those abjected places, ="trms">religion, and ="nms">ajayeb ='lgc'>[that does not only negate those milieus='lgc'>]
="prgrph">-to think about ="trms">religion is super usefull and relevant, because it is also about what secularism is
how people (in rural areas) conceive of vitality and advancement='qstn'>?
='strcls'>*how people ="trms">imagine a better life='qstn'>?='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (to think non-unilateral and non-static) ='strcls'>*picture of aspiration='strcls'>* (in a ="trms">world like ="nms">Tehran; ='at'>#proposal to research on ‘the image of growth’ رشد roshd, slow growth, ='lgc'>[roshd-e bi-raviye رشد بی رویه of toxins and ="trms">species, and so on='lgc'>] in the context of contemporary ="nms">Tehran)
="prgrph">-imitations of forms
(i am activating a rhizomatic mode of perception ='lgc'>[learning from ="ppl">Anand learning from ="ppl">Deleuze and ="ppl">Guattari='lgc'>])='lgc'>='lgc'>--> how one aspect of life leads to another ='lgc'>=/= paritioning of the milieu
="trms">anthropology of the state ='lgc'>: how one engages the state in an every day level
='strcls'>*="trms">historically one crucial exit point from the ="trms">system of ruler-="trms">relation was to become ascetic (زهد)='lgc'>: disregard for sovereign ="trms">authority (حاکم hakem, hakemiat) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a ="trms">different form of power that one let's to lead to self-rule
='lgc'>[bare life ='lgc'>=='qstn'>? life without a way of life ='lgc'>--='not'>✕='lgc'>='lgc'>--> there is no life without a way of life='lgc'>]
(="ppl">Singh='lgc'>:) someone's life cut off from their source of vitality
a local body of thought (jinn, etc.)
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(="ppl">Anand asking) what does it means to live in a city of jinns='qstn'>?
the jinn='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•serves as witnesses of times long gone
="lsts lst1">•figures of ="trms">authority whose shrine blesses re="trms">membered forms of ="trms"nttrm="disturban">urban ="trms">religious life
="lsts lst1">•forgotten by the amnesia of the postcolonial state
="lsts lst1">•rendered unislamic by the selective amnesia of reviva="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list tradition
jinn ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> revive that old orienta="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list ="trms">trope, constituted not only by bazzar, mosque, and hammam, but also of the antinomian potentials that have long been part of the Islamic tradition
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vita
lives of saints
تذکرة الاولیا Tazkirat al-Awliya
concerned with canonization, education, and collective recollection of contemplative life
(vita as a biological genre recounting the lives of holly men and women in several ="trms">religious traditions='lgc'>: Bhaktamala, Theravada buddhism, The="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rigata, etc.)
="ppl">Singh asking='lgc'>: how would we ="trms">narrate a scholarly life='qstn'>? (and i add to that='lgc'>: who could be oulia اولیا Arahant ='lgc'>[further ones='lgc'>] today='qstn'>? queer or nonhuman)
='strcls'>*participated in the ="trms">world ="trms">historical “isms” (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="nms">ajayeb)
='lgc'>--="ppl">Singh='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">narrating a conceptual life, vita
='strcls'>*uncertainties of reception='strcls'>* (in ="ppl">Attar's Tazkirat al-Awliya)
singularity of ="trms">trajectory of ="ppl">Attar's saints ='lgc'>=/= my random sampling of themes
="trms">anthropology='lgc'>: to ="trms">write about anything that exists or ="trms">imagined
can we talk affirmatively of a post="trms">modern ethnography of ="nms">ajayeb='qstn'>? ='lgc'>=/= “totalizing vision” of culture
="large lg26" stl="font-size:106%">
recovery of a human voice as a moral imperative (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="frds scrmbld">Hoda)
(='qstn'>?your ="trms">history as a) telos of increasingly self-awareness
="prgrph">-="ppl">Derrida's philosophical style tending to negative transcendence (différance='lgc'>: an absence that transcends ‘a’ and ‘not a’)
="prgrph">-="ppl">Deleuze's tradition of affirmative immanence
(="ppl">Singh > ="ppl">Deleuze > ="ppl">Strauss='lgc'>:) structure is ="trms">composed of “pre-individual singularities” ='lgc'>~ nomadic distribution of potential ='lgc'>--immanent='lgc'>='lgc'>--> contra="trms">dictions, accidents, mutations
pure/impure
suspicious/inauspicious
life/death
heretic ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> reorder and ob="trms">literate the partitioning of ="trms">categories that ="trms">compose the structural order of ="trms">religion ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="ppl">Veena on Sikhism and Hinduism='lgc'>: ="trms">symbolism of Sikhism understood in ="trms">relation to Hinduism structural order, annihilating the ="trms">categorical ="trms">prioritise (intellectual and ="trms">social) of the medieval ="trms">world. Sikhism rejecting the op="trms">position between ="trms">categories of='lgc'>: the rulers, the caste ="trms">system, and the orders of r="trms">enunciation ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> investment of the virtues of all three ='strcls'>*in a single body of faith='strcls'>* and conduct='lgc'>]
heterodox sects
rebellious thinkers
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> negation of the organizing conceptual order
(="trms">social and) ritual order generates its own forms of instability
...ambivalences of key concepts ='lgc'>==bring='lgc'>='lgc'>==> “play” to the structure, for good and ill ='lgc'>~ liminality
(="ppl">Veena's) liminial ="trms">situation='lgc'>: a form of instability where the individual experiences his ="trms">social ="trms">world as separated from the cosmic ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> death='lgc'>: dis="trms">articulation ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> must be undone by inhabiting the liminality ='lgc'>: ritually rejoining the flow of life
similarities of ritual mourner and ascetic='lgc'>: transcending the ="trms">categories of the ="trms">social and the cosmic
="large lg10" stl="font-size:125%">
incorporation of the liminal undead (preta) with ritually incorporated ="trms">ancestors (pitri) ='lgc'>[job of the mourner='lgc'>]
(crucial task of the) ritual='lgc'>: conveying the dead from the threshold of liminality into an ="trms">ancestral flow of life
emphasis on the ="trms">system is (always='qstn'>?) at the cost of the event
(eternal investment of the artists in foregrounding of the event rather than the structure ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> rapture with structure as caste, tradition, state, norm, ="trms">system, etc. at the cost of missing the practical kinship transcribed into the ="trms">social contract, leadership, and laws of encounter)
='strcls'>***="trms">modernity is ="trms">composed (neither by continuities nor rupture then, but) by trans="trms">figurations='strcls'>***
(="ppl">Singh ='lgc'>+ ="ppl">Veena)
critical event
critical structure
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]event='lgc'>: institute a new modality of ="trms">historical action which is not inscribed in the inventory of that ="trms">situation
(for Furet='lgc'>: French revolution is an event par excellence) ='lgc'>--="ppl">Veena='lgc'>='lgc'>--> event='lgc'>: moments when new modes of action come into being which which redefines traditional ="trms">categories (such as='lgc'>: ="trms">codes of purity and honor, the meaning of martyrdom, construction of a heroic life, etc.)
foregrounding the event as analytic ="trms">category (without disappearing the ="trms">question of structure)='lgc'>:
="prgrph">-sati of Roop Kanvar
="prgrph">-Sikh militancy
="prgrph">-collective violence during the partition of India and Pakistan
not only the state (tries to institutionalize collective ="trms">memory), but also minor ="trms">communities (in the process of their emergence) try to control and fix ="trms">memory in much the same manner ='lgc'>[not total of course='lgc'>] (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> something i am learning in north of Norway with the sami)
there is always ='strcls'>*ambiguity='strcls'>* in the way even the most passionate public ="trms">presentations of militant nationa="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">list discourse is framed (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> there is ='strcls'>***noise in reference to violence='strcls'>*** ='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Mona)
event ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> shift the con="trms">figuration of analysis (and not annulling the structure's analytical possibilities)
event='lgc'>: (a new set of) circumstances for which rules are not set in place
in the case of Bhopal intoxication ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> gradual creation of an expert discourse which sought to dissolve the concrete and existential reality of suffering victims
in the case of such-large suffering event coordinations gradually come to be defined around it ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">question of structure
(='strcls'>**="trms">modernity is an event='strcls'>**)
pain and suffering are not simply individual experiences ... they may also be experiences which are created and distributed by the ="trms">social order
="ppl">Veena's ='strcls'>*="trms">anthropology of pain='strcls'>*
how institutions (in the domain of ="trms">religion, and ="trms">modern='lgc'>: bureaucracy, law, medicine) maintain and signal their legitimacy in the face of massive human suffering='qstn'>?
="prgrph">-manufacture of pain
="prgrph">-theology of suffering
the discovery of the event, as a ="trms">question for ="trms">anthropology, is precisely that='lgc'>: ='strcls'>*event exceeds structure='strcls'>*
(exess ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> re="trms">imagining the ="trms">networks that ="trms">compose our lives)
="ppl">Veena ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> Bhopal industrial disaster='lgc'>: neither ="trms">social ="trms">relations nor locally available knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge were sufficient to apprehend the event. it is at this point that people had to actively search for new knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge, for new kinds of ="trms">social actors that might help them address the ="trms">question of what was happening to their bodies ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> they had to reconstruct ="trms">social ="trms">relations to in="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clude the existence of ="trms">international legal ="trms">systems and governmental bureaucracies in their image of ="trms">society='strcls'>***
toxic potency (='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">difference, collective violence ='lgc'>[such as the partition of India and Pakistan ='lgc'>=/=='lgc'>], stable violence ='lgc'>[such as a village caste dispute='lgc'>],,,)
poles of life and death that separates ="trms">different kinds of collective violence ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> the sexual and reproductive violence witnessed in the Partition connot be understood by taking ="trms">social ="trms">relations as model
(="ppl">Veena)
...distance that arises out of forms of proximity
="ppl">Veena 3 ="trms">books='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•Structure and Cognition ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> illuminates certain recurring patterns
="lsts lst1">•Critical Event ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> paints a kind of national lanscape
="lsts lst1">•Life and Words ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> turn to an art of an ="trms">anthropological portraiture
...healing properties of the everyday
...everyday life generates its own forms of toxicity
(="ppl">Singh's) art of portraiture
of individuals, of milieu,
='strcls'>*singularity (of a portraiture) may express something both local and global='strcls'>*
="ppl">Veena ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> how would we conceptualize the moments of potentially violent uncertainty='qstn'>?
="prgrph">-="ppl">Benjamin='lgc'>: invocations of the uncanny
="prgrph">-="ppl">Derrida='lgc'>: the spectral
="prgrph">-="ppl">Veena='lgc'>: eventedness of the everyday (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> skepticism)
Cavell (on Hollywood cinema and other sites where the drama of separation and union is played out) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> how philosophers have typically focused on skepticism ='lgc'>[longstanding western philosophical ="trms">question and doubt about existence='lgc'>] with respect to ="trms">material objects and the external ="trms">world
...existence of the ="trms">finite neighbour (seemingly known other) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> may become unknowable
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*="ppl">Veena discovers the concept of skepticism for ="trms">anthropology (as a discipline centrally concerned with the varying conditions of human relatedness and otherness)='strcls'>*
='lgc'>[i have been trying dicover skepticism un="trms">systematically in artistic practices those that have strong concerns of ="trms">social justice and suffering, but i never named it as such. ='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Hoda, ="frds scrmbld">Xiri's emphasis on the threatening ="trms">nature of liminality (="trms">demand for equality or freedom) ='lgc'>=/= ='strcls'>**to take the possibility of unsettlement or chaos as founding concern='strcls'>**='lgc'>]
='lgc'>='lgc'>--> skepticism (may) sug="trms">gests a differnt route of inquiry
="large lg3" stl="font-size:110%">
(="ppl">Veena -2007='lgc'>:) “the intimacy between skepticism and the ordinary is revealed in the ="trms">present work on several sites, as in the panic ="trms">rumors that circulate and produce the picture of the other as phantasmal from whom all human subjectivity has been evacuated, or when violence in the register of ="trms">literary is seen as transfiguring life into something else, call it a form of death, or of making oneself, as it were, into a ghost”
='lgc'>[violence ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ghosts='lgc'>]
skeptical problematic ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> shifting pot[...]