[...]ng for life

='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]="nms">ajayeb's ="trms">science (using ="ppl">Canguilhem's words)='lgc'>: the work of a humanity rooted in life before being enlighted by knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge, (if) it is a fact in the ="trms">world at the same time as ='strcls'>*a vision of the ="trms">world='strcls'>* ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> it sustains a permanent and necessary ="trms">relation with perception ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="ppl">="ppl">Barad='lgc'>] ='and'>& “a living being is not reducible to a meeting point of influences” ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="ppl">="ppl">Kenney='lgc'>]

(a meaning from the biological and physiological point of view='lgc'>:) ='strcls'>*need='strcls'>*='lgc'>: an irreducible and thereby absolute ="trms">system of reference (for the living being who experiences it)

="large lg2" stl="font-size:112%"> how to do ='strcls'>*reconsideration of meaning='strcls'>* in biological ="trms">sciences='qstn'>?

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

i am torn apart between describing the challenges of life within the ruins created by ="trms">modernization's vast “improvements” and my own country's revolutionary consciousness to emerge fanatically from those ruins

catachresis استعمال غلط کلمه
a figure of speech in which words are misused from their conventional usages
='strcls'>***to use ="trms">language out of place='strcls'>*** ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>~='lgc'>~='lgc'>='lgc'>--> oxymoron='lgc'>]
="lsts lst1">•Marianne Lien's “homeless salmon”
="lsts lst1">•Hokkaido's “frontier spirit”
="lsts lst1">•
(i constantly use catachresis in my own ="trms">language, the abuse of ="trms">language in describing things. did the mice “speak,” “wrote”='qstn'>? “The choices we make ='lgc'>[of words='lgc'>] ="trms">matter. Words make ="trms">worlds.” ='lgc'>[creatures='lgc'>] are enacted in the ="trms">semiotic and ="trms">material practices we weave through them ='lgc'>==opening='lgc'>='lgc'>==> new grounds for conversation)

="trms">world's misplacements

catachresis helps ="ppl">Tsing as she grope for ="trms">language to describe an impossible program='lgc'>: a program dedicated to confusing disciplinary boundaries and to describing the challenges of life within the ruins created by ="trms">modernization’ vast “improvements” ='lgc'>--requires='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a crisis in ="trms">language

="ppl">Tsing's non-threatening descriptive biology

multiple rendering of salmon

U.S. and Japanese frontier ="trms">technologies

(human and nonhuman) enactments of the mixed-up

='strcls'>*landscape='strcls'>*='lgc'>: a lens that refuses the abstraction of human-nonhuman ="trms">relations in a vacuum

talking fish
acting landscapes

the still-living (='lgc'>~ still-kicking) as a series of misplacements

="trms">world produces its own catachresis

="ppl">Tsing asks “so why is anything still alive='qstn'>?” (in the time of massive human dist="trms"nttrm="disturban">urbance)

your willingness ='lgc'>+ my dreaming


="lsts lst1">•="trms">social ="trms">scientists tried to be more “="trms">scientific”='lgc'>: by counting and putting things into boxes (missing the ="trms">interesting stuff in the ="trms">sciences, in="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">cluding our ="trms">relations with other ="trms">species)
="lsts lst1">•="trms">scientists tried to be more like humanities='lgc'>: decoration (missing the important insights of these fields, such as the fact that ethics is useless as long as the ="trms">categories it assesses are al="trms"nttrm="already,spread">ready set in place)

='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]curiosity='lgc'>: alighting on common ex="trms">citement to learn about the ="trms">world and its goings on
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]="trms">imagination='lgc'>: staying with (our) observations until we find frames for thinking about pattern and ="trms">trajectory

to create new genres of ="trms">translation (='lgc'>='lgc'>==> play)

(the problem of) ='strcls'>*unintentional design='strcls'>*

(what i am learning with ="nms">ajayeb is the art of) paying ='strcls'>**close descriptive attention='strcls'>** (to human ="trms">interactions with other ="trms">species)
="prgrph">-to re-learn the arts of description, that the art of 20th century is so deprived of

“population genetics and neoclassical economics each made description unnecessary through a calculus in which self-contained individuals could be ="trms">posited without attention to ="trms">social ="trms">relations and ="trms">histories” (="ppl">Tsing)

="trms">sciences that are designed ="trms">specifically not to tackle problems of living together


='at'>#project on ="nms">Tehran trees, on ="trms">anthropogenic landscapes of ="nms">Tehran
="prgrph">-descriptive ="trms">methods for the study of ="trms">social ="trms">relation and ="trms">histories
="prgrph">-learning (directly) about ="trms">worldly objects of ="nms">Tehran ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> take part in the kinds of creative play that are the hallmark of the research ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> draws ="trms"nttrm="already,spread">readers outside common-sense assumptions

using='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•="trms">anthropology ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> its expertise in ethnographic ="trms">methods
="lsts lst1">•="trms">history ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> its turn to environmental ="trms">narration
="lsts lst1">•biology ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (="trms">ecological evolutionary-developmental trends) that have shown how ="trms">species come into being with each other
="lsts lst1">•="trms">science studies ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> its lively juxta="trms">position of ="trms">technological and philosophical ="trms">methods


="ppl">Tsing='lgc'>: there is no reason that ="trms">anthropologists cannot study nonhumans using some of the very same ="trms">methods we use to study humans='lgc'>--or close parallels to them

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

walking is the speed of bodily pleasure
the speed for looking for mushrooms

mushrooms jump into your hands with all three pleasures of the unasked for
='strcls'>*they are not the product of your labor='strcls'>* ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- we should be able to work and depend on those things

="ppl">Tsing saying ‘bismillah’ in her ="trms">writing

delight ='lgc'>==make='lgc'>='lgc'>==> impression

='strcls'>*noticing='strcls'>* and ='strcls'>*coming back='strcls'>* to familiar places is the beginning of appreciation for multi="trms">species ="trms">interactions

="nms">Tehran expansive and overlapping geographies resist common models (which divide the ="trms">world into “them” and “us”)

lichen='lgc'>: an as="trms">sociation of a fungus and an alga or cyanobacteria, where the non-fungal partner fuels lichen ="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metabolism through photosynthesis

assumptions of human constancy ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> autocratic military ideology ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">historically webbed ="trms">inter="trms">species dependence -='lgc'>=> a ="trms">different cultural research ="trms">trajectory

(to understand more about) domestication='lgc'>: web of entanglements
='lgc'>=/= neoliberal hard-line ='lgc'>[human ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">wild='lgc'>] understanding of “domestication='lgc'> = human control” (ignoring that such ="trms">relations might change humans too, ignoring the complex ="trms">relations of ="trms">interdependency) ='lgc'><='lgc'>== ideological commitment to human mastery (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="frds scrmbld">Sana's political commitment to liberalism) ='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>==> (fantasies of) ='strcls'>*the ="trms">wild ="trms">species self-making='strcls'>* ='lgc'>=/= fantasies of control
='lgc'>='lgc'>==> life imprisonment and genetic standardization of domestic ="trms">animals, ="trms">wild ="trms">species are ‘preserved’ in gene banks while their multi="trms">species landscape are destroyed

i want ="frds scrmbld">Sana to become a rese="trms"nttrm="search">archer able to know something more about the cultural construction of gender, ="trms">species, and binds='lgc'>--rather than “freeing” women from their gender, dogs from humans, slaves from masters='lgc'>--which will lead only to the constitution of autocratic liberalism made in the image of human free will and guardianship, another master program...
!='qstn'>?how can i say “let's stay in the prison and study” ...well, maybe i can't
='at'>#="nms">harem, the ="trms">question of women confinement (usually at the center of a beautiful dream of order and plenty)

="large lg14" stl="font-size:131%"> ="prgrph">-how can i start and cultivate ="trms">affection and appreciation for ="trms">inter="trms">species ="trms">relations in ="nms">Tehran today='qstn'>? (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ways and ="trms">methods)
="prgrph">-how with my chaotic and extremist ="nms">iranian freedom-fighter friends we could become allies='qstn'>? (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">network)
="prgrph">-what is my evidences, examples, samples of the lived experience in ="nms">Tehran='qstn'>? (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">data, ="trms">stories that stick)

a dichotomy of analysis='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•="trms">species found inside human body ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> discourse of cohabitation and ="trms">interdependency
="lsts lst1">•="trms">species found outside human body ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> discourse of human impact, management, and control

Engels's just-so ="trms">story of private property='lgc'>: o="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rigin of property was in herds ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> male control of reproduction in human families

cereal domesticated human
in the near east a shift towards gathering multiple small-grain grasses is as="trms">sociated with the 10000 years before domestication
focus on landscape ='lgc'>--to='lgc'>='lgc'>--> focus on crops


across Eurasia the rise of state (and their specialised civilization) is as="trms">sociated with the sp="trms"nttrm="already,spread">read of intensive cereal agriculture
(="ppl">Tsing > Connor)

a political con="trms">figuration='lgc'>:
states encouraged sedentary, stable farms, family-based households, and guaranteed the forms of family property and in="trms">heritance (that drew lines within and between families) ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> both women and grain confined and managed to maximise fertility
='lgc'>--Engels='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">inter="trms">species ="trms">love affair

it was in the 19th century that standardization became itself the “="trms">modern standard”


='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]plantation='lgc'>: ordered cropping ="trms">systems worked by non-owners and arranged for expansion
='lgc'>='lgc'>==>
="lsts lst1">•deepen domestication
="lsts lst1">•reintensifying plant dependencies
="lsts lst1">•forcing fertility

superaboundance of a single crop (without the ‘="trms">love’ ='lgc'>[connector romance of people, plant, place='lgc'>] that was key in state-endorsed cereal agriculture)
(in plantation) the plants were exotic and labor was coerced slavery

only with ='strcls'>**hierarchy and managed antagonism='strcls'>** in place enormous profits (='lgc'>+ complementary poverty) could be produced

plantation produced the wealth and the modus operandi that allowed Europeans to take over the ="trms">world

(not ="trms">technologies and resources, rather) ='strcls'>*plantation ="trms">system made the navies, ="trms">science, and industrialization possible='strcls'>*

taking the alienation of people (from their crops) for granted

='lgc'>='lgc'>==> human sub="trms">species were ="trms">formulated and enforced ='lgc'>: biology came to signify the ="trms">difference between free “owner” and coerced “labor” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> racial divisions were produced and reproduced in each dowered marriage and in="trms">heritance

="prgrph">-poor families needed more labor, particularly where ="trms">child labor kept many adults alive
="prgrph">-privileged families were charged with the advancements of the race, women must bear its heirs ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> late 19th century discourse of ="trms">scientific hygiene and eugenics اصلاح نژاد informed white women's ="trms">species segregation

='lgc'>{ boundaries of home='lgc'> = boundaries of ="trms">love ='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> fetishization of the home as the space of purity and ="trms">interdependence ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> extra-domestic intimacies (within/between ="trms">species) =
="lsts lst1">•archaic fantasies (the ="trms">community, small farmer, etc.)
="lsts lst1">•passing affairs (feminism, ="trms">animal ="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rights, etc. )
='lgc'>+
outside the home='lgc'> = domain of economic rationality and conflicting individual ="trms">interests

='lgc'>='lgc'>--> mid 20th century allowed other ="trms">species accepted='lgc'>: pets are models for family devotion. but the model of the ="trms">loving and the be="trms">loved pet does not sp="trms"nttrm="already,spread">read ="trms">love; it holds tight inside the family (-="ppl">Tsing)

='lgc'>[bio="trms">social plan:='lgc'>] other people ='and'>& other ="trms">species are judged by their ability to live up to one standard of domestic intimacy (USA or ="nms">iran)='lgc'>:
they ="trms">love their ="trms">children and pets ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">imagine themselves as compassionate and moral ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> makes them ‘good people’ ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ="trms">="trms">equip them to make decisions for the whole ="trms">world ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> moral hierarchy (='lgc'>~ your goodness is qualification for global goodness) ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> other people ='and'>& other ="trms">species are judged ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> project to improve the ="trms">world ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> ='strcls'>*collateral damage is unfortunate but not inhumane='strcls'>*

="trms"nttrm="disturban">urban jungle
jumble of diversity ='lgc'>+ imperial planners
="trms">excessive teams

="trms">technique of unmapping, for separating paired projects and effects and places and things. (='thdf'>for example unmap state and capital from diversity places)
="lsts lst1">•sp="trms"nttrm="already,spread">read obscurity
="lsts lst1">•to know something from disordered ="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edges (='lgc'>=/= ptoductive ="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edges)
="lsts lst1">•what grows in the seam (to begin with)
="lsts lst1">•pleasure of variety beyond the domestic
="lsts lst1">•how places are ="trms">differentiated and ="trms">specific


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

Global Futures
(a game of) possibilities of ="trms">contingent connections
a game that develops our ideas of the productivity='lgc'>--for better or worse='lgc'>--of ="trms">contingency
a game to appreciate ="trms">contingent connections ='lgc'>[='lgc'>=/= stale and d="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">angerous pre="trms">dictions (='lgc'>='lgc'>==> mithridatism)='lgc'>]

futures of all ="trms">sorts are forged in the ="trms">contingencies of strange connections
="lsts lst1">•foreclosed in the narrow channels of corporate expansion
="lsts lst1">•clashing state and popular terrorisms
="lsts lst1">•our best hopes (as well as our inchoate terrors)

='strcls'>*="ppl">Tsing='lgc'>: “="trms">Contingency surrounds us, but we ignore its power to shape the future.”


='strcls'>**europe's secular prophecy's ="trms">formulaic ="trms">tropes for encapsulating time='strcls'>**
="lsts lst1">•most powerful future-making ="trms">stories have told of the fulfillment of principles of progress and rationality
="lsts lst1">•driving force of ="trms">technology will transform ="trms">society
="lsts lst1">•ideal of democracy will be progressively en="trms">coded in law
='lgc'>=/=
='strcls'>**anti-progress prophecy's ="trms">formulaic ="trms">tropes for encapsulating time='strcls'>**
="lsts lst1">•national genius of a chosen people will blossom
="lsts lst1">•human ="trms">nature will reestablish ="trms">historic gender roles and racial hierarchies
="lsts lst1">•the essence of ancient civilizations will rise again to vie and clash

='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> There is no room for ="trms">contingent connections in any of these pre="trms">dictions


(most important ="trms">story of our time='lgc'>:) ='strcls'>*the ="trms">story of globalization='strcls'>*='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•the ="trms">world is entering a global era without political or economic rifts
="lsts lst1">•nation-states and cultures are increasingly irrelevant
="lsts lst1">•a global menu of ="trms">consumerdesires and entrepreneurial standards frames identity and sets individual and collective goals

='lgc'>='lgc'>--> since the end of the Cold War='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•global expansion of a few giant corporations
="lsts lst1">•the great flows of people from one continent to another
="lsts lst1">•forging of transnational standards for economics and politics
="lsts lst1">•development of widely sp="trms"nttrm="already,spread">read audiences for once parochial forms of popular culture

='lgc'>='lgc'>--> Global capitalism is not seamless='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•leapfrogging financial crises
="lsts lst1">•“antiglobalization” politics springing up
="lsts lst1">•deflating policymakers’ hopes for a smooth ="trms">transition to corporate empire


ultimate fantasy of an ='strcls'>*era without politics='strcls'>*
ultimate fantasy of a ='strcls'>*more complex evolutionary plan='strcls'>*
='lgc'>=/= ="trms">contingency ='and'>& ="trms">interconnection



principles of (="ppl">Tsing and Pollman's) Global Futures game='lgc'>:
you tell the ="trms">story of this coalescence, and if your fellow players accept the ="trms">story, it makes ="trms">history='lgc'>: it becomes a part of the ="trms">world of the game.
the goal is to develop a set of ='strcls'>*coalescences='strcls'>* that fulfills a preassigned ="trms">mission.
whoever tells the best ="trms">story while completing the ="trms">mission wins.

you (tell ="trms">stories in which you) are free to='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•make the ="trms">world a better place
="lsts lst1">•hatch a nefarious scheme
="lsts lst1">•="trms">narrate a true ="trms">story

='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]coalescence='lgc'>: the ="trms">historical force that arises from a transformative coming together of disparate groups, institutions, or things='lgc'>:
an unexpected connection ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> a “="trms">historical force"='lgc'>[= something that might change the ="trms">world='lgc'>]
(parties might be='lgc'>: groups, institutions, ideas, identities, things, or beings. chili peppers and Thai cuisine; African rice producers and the Carolina coast; astrolabes, compasses, and plane tables)

='lgc'>[contemplative mode of togetherness='lgc'>: (in Europe) coalescence انعقاد ='lgc'>=/= (in Middle East) confluence تلاقى ='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> transnationalism ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">internationalism ='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>~-> forms of alliance that are possible and needed that can be created ="trms">differentially with “trans-” ='lgc'>=/= “="trms">inter-“='lgc'>]='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>*coalescence is not meaningful nor possible in Middle East='qstn'>?='strcls'>*

example='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•not coalescence ="trms">story='lgc'>: to say that a cat and a goldfinch are both ="trms">animals. or to ="trms">imagine a pet store that sells both
="lsts lst1">•coalescence ="trms">story='lgc'>: a cat-feeding fad that requires that cats eat nothing but goldfinches to give the cats a sleeker coat, while goldfinches become ="trms">seriously end="trms"nttrm="danger,stranger">angered because of the program ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- ='strcls'>*both cats and goldfinches are changed in the encounter='strcls'>*

coalescence can be unintentional, ="trms">seriously damage collaborator and the ="trms">world

="trms">missions could be='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•create a revolution
="lsts lst1">•corrupt a nation's government
="lsts lst1">•use a ="trms">natural resource to create havoc
="lsts lst1">•revitalize an ancient philosophy
="lsts lst1">•


future-making cards='lgc'>:
icons of ="trms">historical ="trms">agency
they re="trms">present the ="trms">world through stereotypes and ="trms">symbols
used as an ideology about X (='lgc'>=/= as the real thing)

eternal essences as ="trms">natural objects or cultural ="trms">codes prevent theories to require things to change ='lgc'>=/= Global Futures conceptualization of time and change ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>***forms of human and nonhuman possibility ="trms">imagined within current discussions of politics and culture='strcls'>***

="large lg3" stl="font-size:112%"> ='strcls'>*="trms">world power ='lgc'>=/= ="trms">world time='strcls'>*

time ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> evolutionary ladder ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> progressive ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> supportive trellises of flowering liberalism ='lgc'>+ critical charts of intensifying capitalism

coercive ="trms">international development
civilizational paternalism
free-="trms">market bullying

="display:block;white-space:nowrap;margin-bottom:-1em;overflow:hidden;">...................................
="large lg4" stl="font-size:110%">
='at'>#my theory (='lgc'>=/= reductionist, or psychological identification) on ="trms">specification of='lgc'>:
spider ='lgc'>=/= linear temporality
whale ='lgc'>=/= distinction of organism and environment
(='qstn'>?) ='lgc'>=/= “single point of view ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> subjective ="trms">phenomena”

="ppl">Nagel='lgc'>: the fact that an organism has conscious experience='lgc'> = there is something it is like to be that organism ='lgc'>{='lgc'>='lgc'>--> subjective character of experience='lgc'>}='lgc'>--='not'>✕='lgc'>='lgc'>--> analyzable in terms of any explanatory ="trms">system of functional states, or intentional states

Blade Runner's notion of “soul”='lgc'>: ascribed to robots or automata that behave like people though they experience nothing

physicalism='lgc'>: ="trms">phenomenological features must themselves be given a physical account

="large lg5" stl="font-size:143%"> ...if one ="trms">travels too far down the phylogenetic tree, people gradually shed their faith that there [...]