Decolonising the political: Presence, law and obligation

IF 1.1 2区 社会学 Q2 ANTHROPOLOGY
Julia Eckert
{"title":"Decolonising the political: Presence, law and obligation","authors":"Julia Eckert","doi":"10.1177/14634996231185324","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"In his recent book, Mahmood Mamdani calls for the decolonisation of politics to overcome the categorical and conceptual legacies of the colonial nation state that generate, time and again, cycles of retributive violence. Mamdani's suggestion of survivor communities, I argue, does not go far enough. The epistemological revolution necessary to reconceptualise legitimate belonging must go beyond the notion of surviving a shared history. If what is at issue is creating an inclusive political order, political community cannot be based on a shared past but must rather encompass all those who share a present. Moreover, if the distinction between permanent majorities and permanent minorities established by the nation state is continued in the structures created by that order, instruments of redress are required. The political question and the social question are one. To this end, rather than abandoning notions of legal responsibility, an epistemological revolution in the legal notions of responsibility is needed. To liberate the question of who belongs from the logic of prerogative that is the corollary of the nation state form and to radically alter the logic of membership, responsibility must be reconceptualised to take account of our implication in the situation of others. We can conceive of polities not as constituted by a shared past, but as premised on our collective inhabitation of entangled histories and presents.","PeriodicalId":51554,"journal":{"name":"Anthropological Theory","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Anthropological Theory","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14634996231185324","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ANTHROPOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

In his recent book, Mahmood Mamdani calls for the decolonisation of politics to overcome the categorical and conceptual legacies of the colonial nation state that generate, time and again, cycles of retributive violence. Mamdani's suggestion of survivor communities, I argue, does not go far enough. The epistemological revolution necessary to reconceptualise legitimate belonging must go beyond the notion of surviving a shared history. If what is at issue is creating an inclusive political order, political community cannot be based on a shared past but must rather encompass all those who share a present. Moreover, if the distinction between permanent majorities and permanent minorities established by the nation state is continued in the structures created by that order, instruments of redress are required. The political question and the social question are one. To this end, rather than abandoning notions of legal responsibility, an epistemological revolution in the legal notions of responsibility is needed. To liberate the question of who belongs from the logic of prerogative that is the corollary of the nation state form and to radically alter the logic of membership, responsibility must be reconceptualised to take account of our implication in the situation of others. We can conceive of polities not as constituted by a shared past, but as premised on our collective inhabitation of entangled histories and presents.
政治存在、法律和义务的非殖民化
马哈茂德·马姆达尼(Mahmood Mamdani)在他的新书中呼吁政治的非殖民化,以克服殖民民族国家的分类和概念遗产,这些遗产一次又一次地产生报复性暴力的循环。我认为,马姆达尼关于幸存者社区的建议还远远不够。重新定义合法归属所必需的认识论革命必须超越共同历史的生存概念。如果问题在于建立一个包容性的政治秩序,那么政治共同体就不能建立在共同的过去之上,而必须包括所有共同的现在。此外,如果民族国家建立的永久多数和永久少数之间的区别在该秩序所创造的结构中继续存在,就需要采取补救措施。政治问题和社会问题是一体的。为此,与其放弃法律责任概念,还不如对法律责任概念进行一场认识论上的革命。为了从民族国家形式的必然结果——特权逻辑中解放谁属于这个问题,并从根本上改变成员的逻辑,责任必须重新概念化,以考虑到我们在他人处境中的含义。我们可以设想,政治不是由共同的过去构成的,而是以我们对纠缠在一起的历史和现在的共同居住为前提的。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
Anthropological Theory
Anthropological Theory ANTHROPOLOGY-
CiteScore
3.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
16
期刊介绍: Anthropological Theory is an international peer reviewed journal seeking to strengthen anthropological theorizing in different areas of the world. This is an exciting forum for new insights into theoretical issues in anthropology and more broadly, social theory. Anthropological Theory publishes articles engaging with a variety of theoretical debates in areas including: * marxism * feminism * political philosophy * historical sociology * hermeneutics * critical theory * philosophy of science * biological anthropology * archaeology
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信