History beyond the Ken: Towards a Critical Historiography of Apocalyptic Politics with Jacob Taubes and Michel Foucault

Abstract

Jacob Taubes, Founding Professor of Jewish Studies and the Sociology of Religion, but also Director of the Section for Hermeneutics at the Institute of Philosophy at Berlin’s Free University from 1962 until his death in 1987, was one of the most influential and controversial theorist in humanities. Recently discovered documents from his literary estate reveal that he was among the first German thinkers to recognise Michel Foucault’s brilliance as a lateral thinker. On two separate documented occasions, he attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to involve him in colloquia on epistemological research. This article examines the correspondences between Taubes’ and Foucault’s respective theories about Judeo-Christian apocalypticism and touches upon what could have been illuminating discussions between the two on “the use and abuse of history”. After providing an overview of the apocalypse as a historical concept, the common characteristics of Foucault’s theory of genealogy and Taubes’ conception of eschatology are outlined. By highlighting the corresponding historiographical aspects of these two approaches, the focus shifts to the widely neglected “other”, “gnostic”, or “revolutionary” potential of apocalyptic notions. Beyond the history of representations, a non-representative “tradition of breaking with tradition” might be discovered, demonstrating the immanent political implications of eschatology and offering perspectives on historical struggles “from the bottom up”.