Trope, Affect, and Democratic Subjectivity

All -

I just got this announcement/call for papers for a November 2-5, 2006 conference at Northwestern:

Conference on Trope, Affect, and Democratic Subjectivity
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The Center for Global Culture and Communication at Northwestern University
will sponsor a conference this November 2-5, 2006 on Trope, Affect, and
Democratic Subjectivity. The conference will feature plenary addresses by
leading scholars in classics, comparative literature, political theory,
communication studies, and other disciplines, as well as concurrent presentations. Scholars who wish to be included in the concurrent sessions
are invited to submit abstracts or papers by September 15, 2006. Those
selected for presentation will be notified by September 30.
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The conference will be co-sponsored by the Northwestern Program in
Rhetoric and Public Culture, and directed by program faculty Dilip Gaonkar,
Robert Hariman, and Ernesto Laclau. The conference builds on the renewed
interest in rhetoric that is occurring across the human sciences. This
continuing displacement of modernist assumptions in the conduct of inquiry
reflects not only the legacy of the linguistic turn of the 20th century, but
also more recent and equally profound shifts in both intellectual culture
and configurations of the political in the 21st century. What began as a
crisis in representation has become a basis for focused critical study
regarding a volatile field of transformations across increasingly fungible
media, practices, and peoples. To that end, the conference focuses on the
crucial theoretical conjunction between trope, affect, and democratic
subjectivity. By "trope," we feature the productive capacity of discursive
operations for transformation; by "affect" we mark the significance of latent economies of signification and social energy; by "democratic subjectivity" we orient towards the constitution of the political subject as a citizen capable of public
participation and collective agency.
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All papers presented will be eligible for publication in a volume on the
conference theme to be edited by the conference organizers. Applications
for presentation should be sent to r-hariman2_at_northwestern.edu. Inquiries
about attendance should be sent to Amber Day, a-day_at_northwestern.edu.

Plenery Speakers:
Gabriela Basterra (New York University; Gabriela.basterra_at_nyu.edu)
Barbara Biesecker (University of Iowa; Barbara-Biesecker_at_uiowa.edu)
Barbara Cassin (CNRS, Paris; barbara.cassin_at_wanadoo.fr)
Joan Copjec (SUNY, Buffalo; joancopjec_at_hotmail.com)
Oliver Marchart (University of Basel;Oliver.Marchart_at_unibas.ch)
Monique David-Menard (Centre d'Etudes du Vivant, Universite Paris;
Mdm01paris_at_aol.com)
Jean-Claude Monod (CNRS, Paris; jcmonod_at_hotmail.com)
Jelica Sumic-Riha (University of Ljubljana; jsumr_at_zrc.sazu.si)
Diane Rubenstein (Cornell University; dsr27_at_cornell.edu)
Phillipe Salazar (University of Cape Town; Salazar_at_telkomsa.net)

A Serious Coup

"Thailand's coup leaders have banned go-go dancers from performing for troops on the streets of Bangkok, fearing soldiers may be distracted."

According to the BBC story, dancing near tanks has been banned in order "to maintain the seriousness of the coup." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5384544.stm What do others make of this? I'm curious how these bodies are determined as inappropriate, as opposed to tourists taking photographs of the tanks, or residents bringing the soldiers flowers and food. Although I can never imagine a coup in the US, I wonder how this scenario might get played out in other countries or political situations.

This also raises the issue of control of the dancers' bodies, the bodies of the soldiers, as well as the bodies of the spectators (and media). In class we discussed the control of US male soldiers' bodies (from forbidding soldiers to have bowel movements while 'in the field' to placing chemicals in their food to prevent erections while serving) and yet the general sense of encouragement for male soldiers to 'unleash' and be uncontrolled when displaying their masculinity via their (hetero)sexuality.

Is the key issue in this story really that male soldiers will be distracted, or is it that the placement of sexually-coded bodies in relationship to the soldiers and tanks is somehow undermining the political cause both locally and internationally? Are politics always 'serious' (i.e., no go-go dancers) and in what ways do political causes benefit from the stereotypical display of the female body? I think this draws attention to the fact that the sexualized female body is exploited for practically everything else - why draw the line at a coup?

{photos from http://www.news24.com/News24/Backpage/Offbeat/0,,2-1343-1347_2004462,00.html and news.bbc.co.uk}

more erotica

I don't know how to add a photo to another post; so, this post really is a response to "Coding Body Parts as Patriotic"--my apologies for a new post.

Strikingly, I saw a similar piece of erotica in the Gabinetto Segreto (“Secret Room”) of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples this past May. The flying penis key chains (yes, there were more than one) is from antiquity. You are supposed to sign up for the room to tour this collection of erotica (the keychains are just a part) in order not to have too many people in the room becoming too excited at once.

Coding Body Parts As Patriotic

So my professor for my Politics of Fashion class clued me into the following link - I want to suggest the site - or at least a reading we could do of the site - is related to the subject matter of our class, but I admit it is pretty crass (rhymes with brass!). Hey, it's about a body part, alright? That's the connection.

The site American Brass Balls sells, well, brass replicas of testicles. But it is how they signify these metal testicles that interests me: "Having American Brass Balls means 'We've Got What It Takes' to: Defeat Terrorism and those who promote it; Defend our Homeland; Show Courage and Determination in the face of adversity."

The sentiment of having "balls" is cliche, but here it has been recoded (and commodified into a disturbingly realistic product) to address the fear of terrorism present in our culture over the past five years. While the site insists that brass balls are for both men and women, it seems to me the site and its shiny products are somehow unable to avoid masculinist associations.

Bodies in Prison?

In anticipation of next week's conversation on Foucault's Birth of the Prison (in Phaedra's class), I thought we could discuss alternatives to the treatment of and attitudes around prisoners' bodies. One example might be meditation courses that are offered in prisons, such as the Vipassana Meditation Center in the Tihar high-security jail in New Delhi which has their own meditation center within the prison. The security guards are also required to take a meditation course prior to the course being available to inmates. http://www.dhamma.org/prisons.htm offers examples of successful meditation courses for both in-mates and security guards (and police cadets!) in India and world-wide.

The photo above is from the documentary "Doing Time, Doing Vipassana;" this is one of the many inmates who cried in the arms of the head security guard and meditation assistant instructor upon completion of a ten day sit.

The following excerpts are from http://www.dhamma.org/jaipur.htm, and raises the specific issue of what to do with prisoner's bodies (should they be chained while in meditation?). This describes a struggle that took place in 1975 when meditation was first introduced in an Indian prison. For what it's worth, there are no armed guards watching meditation students in the prisons today!

{FYI Goenka Ji is responsible for bringing Vipassana meditation teachings to India and world-wide from Burma; "dhamma" can be loosely translated as 'teachings'}:

...leg irons and handcuffs were used for hardened criminals. Four such prisoners were brought into the meditation hall locked in these fetters. Mr. Goenka was walking nearby and when he saw this... He exclaimed: "How can people in chains be put before me to meditate? This cannot happen. Remove the chains!"

But the Inspector General of Prisons (IG) said that this could not be allowed; the security in the jail was his responsibility; he could not remove the leg irons or the handcuffs. However, Mr Goenka was firm. He said he could not teach Dhamma with people sitting before him in chains. He was giving Dhamma; he had come to remove the chains. The IG told him he could remove the chains from within, but not the outside chains! Mr. Goenka insisted that those who were meditating must not be in chains...

The IG... said any one of them might try to be a hero, and strangle Mr. Goenka or me to death in the snap of a finger. We discussed the problem and finally came to an agreement to remove the chains and fetters. An armed guard would be posted at a strategic point to shoot any prisoner who started to advance menacingly. I told the IG to ensure that no panic shooting took place.

The chains and locks were removed... The course started. I sat at the front... My eyes were fixed on that armed guard, my heart throbbing and deep anxiety within! But with every passing moment came more relief... The red-hot eyes of the criminals who were the cause of so much turmoil changed and their faces beamed. Tears streamed down their cheeks...

Anne Galloway Talk on Monday

Monday, September 25
5PM
Krannert Art Museum Auditorium
Anne Galloway

If you didn't get enough on considerations of bodies and space this past week, directly after our class on Monday the School of Art and Design Visiting Artists Series is hosting a lecture by Anne Galloway. The talk is entitled "Understanding People's Experience with Technology at Work and Play." I'll be walking over right after class if you want to go.

On her website, she argues: "After more than a decade of personal computer and cyberspace studies, wireless, wearable, context-aware and networked technologies are challenging social and cultural researchers to take up a revitalised and critical focus on computing in everyday life. Our increasing ability to take computers from the desktop into the world-at-large is creating different associations between people, objects and places."

Even if you can't catch the lecture, her website totally roxzors!

Phusiopoiesis?

Debbie, we had a great time talking about your book in seminar this morning. One question I dared not answer, though I did manage to pronounce it outloud, was about "phusiopoiesis"--one student said she googled it to learn more and only found your name again. Another asked if it was merely metis & kairos combined. Could you perhaps share some more insight into this term and its usefulness for your work?