[...]hese 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)

but i am al="trms"nttrm="already,spread">ready moving to my next self


="large lg2" stl="font-size:111%">
='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)

="large lg22" stl="font-size:117%">

mytho="trms">poetic (registers of Qur'an)
mytho="trms">poetic registers of everyday life



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'>]

="display:block;white-space:nowrap;margin-bottom:-1em;overflow:hidden;">...................................

='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

="large lg1" stl="font-size:118%"> (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.


='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

="large lg6" stl="font-size:126%"> 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

="large lg6" stl="font-size:122%"> 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

="large lg14" stl="font-size:124%"> (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

="large lg22" stl="font-size:119%"> ='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

="large lg3" stl="font-size:111%"> 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[...]