For a Rationalist Politics of the Event: Zermelo–Fraenkel Set Theory and Structuring the Multiple

Abstract

The first version of Migrants and Militants was presented as a lecture given at the Maison de la Poésie in Paris on December 12, 2018. Nonetheless, the text, given its survey of migrants and neoliberal capitalism, reads as a perfectly situated critique given the contemporary political climate that we are currently imbricated in. Just in the United States, Black Lives Matter protests continue to vehemently challenge unbridled police violence while nascent authoritarian leaders (e.g., Donald Trump, Victor Orbán, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Jair Bolsonaro) attempt to stymie any structural economic agenda, automatic stabilizers, or universal single-payer healthcare program that would counter the effects of COVID-19 while, simultaneously, relieving corporations of any financial pressure. While Badiou’s intervention is at the level of a rather specific issue—migration and ethics—the text is galvanized by a more general critique of globalized neoliberal capitalism. Historically situated, Badiou’s project is unique insofar as he attempts to demonstrate that many of the putative “trends” associated with contemporary neoliberalism (e.g., globalization) have haunted the logic(s) of capital and capitalism since its inception.