[...] 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
="large lg2" stl="font-size:112%">
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)
="large lg6" stl="font-size:118%">
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)
="large lg18" stl="font-size:117%">
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'>***
="large lg6" stl="font-size:115%">
“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)
="large lg1" stl="font-size:124%">
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
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can we talk affirmatively of a post="trms">modern ethnography of ="nms">ajayeb='qstn'>? ='lgc'>=/= “totalizing vision” of culture
recovery of a human voice as a moral imperative (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="frds scrmbld">Hoda)
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(='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
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)
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="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
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="ppl">Veena 3 ="trms">books='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•Structure and Cognition ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> illuminates certain recurring patterns
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