[...] 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 lg2" stl="font-size:112%">
mytho="trms">poetic (registers of Qur'an)
mytho="trms">poetic registers of everyday life


="large lg14" stl="font-size:116%">
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

(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

="large lg1" stl="font-size:138%"> (="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

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

="large lg4" stl="font-size:111%"> ='strcls'>***(my ="trms">methodology='lgc'>:) let's in="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clude in our dedication to X also a butt of[...]