Fall Quarter
| Dept |
Course No and Title |
Instructor |
|---|
| EURO ST (F24) | 290 READNG & CONFERENCE | SHEMEK, D. |
| No detailed description available. |
| EURO ST (F24) | 290 READNG & CONFERENCE | LITWIN, C. |
| No detailed description available. |
| EURO ST (F24) | 200B THEORIZING PERIODS | EVERS, K. |
| Recent theories of resistance direct their critique, even scorn, at Hannah Arendt’s concept of politics, foremost her analysis totalitarianism and theory of total domination (The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951). Judith Butler criticized Arendt for defining politics “restrictively as an active stance” arguing that such a narrow definition excludes central aspects of the political from the discussion, in particular passive forms of resistance. Howard Caygill and Iris Därmann hold Arendt’s theory of total domination responsible for past disinterest and current misconceptions of resistance. Butler, Caygill and Därmann, among others, advocate for more inclusive approaches to resistance. Resistance studies should develop concepts and theories that take serious forms of resistance which avoid open confrontation, that make efforts to sustain life (Butler), take measures to preserve the capacity to resist (Caygill), that pay attention to „flat“ forms of resistance, as Därmann calls them. The course examines central theoretical, literary and historical writings (and films) on resistance-- Clausewitz, Nietzsche, Freud, Ghandi, Arendt, Fanon, Pasolini, Weiss, among them. These readings will be engaged in critical dialogue with recent proposals to revise our definitions and practices of resistance (Caygill, Butler, Malm, Därmann, and others). |
