Alexandros Kioupkiolis | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (original) (raw)
Papers by Alexandros Kioupkiolis
This paper examines nascent alternative approaches to "commoning" and "common goods" that have be... more This paper examines nascent alternative approaches to "commoning" and "common goods" that have been developed over the last decade by a unique coalition of lawyers, grassroots initiatives, and local governments in Italian cities, notably Bologna and Naples. The aim is to flesh out and to critically appraise two variants of a strategy for advancing urban commons in the direction of Integrative Governance, civic equality, power-with, solidarity, plurality, openness, and care for the city: the "Bologna Model" and the "Neapolitan Way." The argument is that the two strategies diverge in crucial respects, the former being more top-down and potentially compromising than the latter. Both, however, bear promise and potential for commons-oriented change, opening up processes of new social invention, deeper democratization, political contestation, and counter-hegemonic intervention.
This paper advances the thesis that democratic populism and the commons can and should complement... more This paper advances the thesis that democratic populism and the commons can and should complement each other in counter-hegemonic interventions promoting egalitarian and ecological democracy in our times. After elucidating its key terms, the article makes, first, a theoretical case for the combination of egalitarian, inclusionary populism and the commons by debunking arguments which highlight the conflicts between them and by explaining the political significance of their conjugation. Subsequently, discussion builds an empirical argument for the real possibility and the democratic promises of such a convergence by considering three ways in which populist politics and the commons merge and recompose each other in contemporary social movements, from the Spanish 15M and new municipalism to Occupy and other collective contestation in the Americas over the last two decades. These cases will illustrate how late social activism has effectively blended populist mobilization with the spirit of the commons, engendering a hybrid figure of 'common populism' that fosters grassroots processes of democratization.
Since the 1990s, the global expansion of neoliberal rule has been accompanied by the rise of 'ano... more Since the 1990s, the global expansion of neoliberal rule has been accompanied by the rise of 'another politics,' or 'alter-politics,' to use a term disseminated by the anthropologist Ghassan Hage (2015). Grassroots movements, civic initiatives and new citizens' platforms, such as those of 'new municipalism' in Spain (from 2015 onwards), have pursued new modes of politics. Τhese break with the top-down, centralized and 'ideological' forms of political activity that often sway the state politics of the government or the party. Such 'alter-politics' from the grassroots also departs from typical forms ofconventional modern activism and opposition that areis bent on protest and demands from the state, or they areit is locked up in insularity, or itthey cleaves to ideological dogmas and steps forward as a vanguard and can be also vertical and dogmatic. .
In this issue, for example, Kioupkiolis and Zechner illustrate how political strategies and tacti... more In this issue, for example, Kioupkiolis and Zechner illustrate how political strategies and tactics can subvert uneven, constraining social hierarchies, orders, and divisions in the virtual spaces reclaimed for peer-to-peer production (in the former case) and urban spaces reclaimed for self-organized childcare (in the latter case). These contributions demonstrate how it is possible to build powerful 'counter-empires' that allow 'not being governed or…not being governed like that and at that cost' (Foucault, 1997: 29). Subversion and resistance can, however, also be expressed in more creativeexplorative forms that foreground imagination and experimentation, forms that are guided by an interest in creating new ideas, possibilities, and 'ways of seeing, being, and relating' (Perini, 2010: 183)-and, hence, inventing alternatives to the status quo (see also Karakilic and Painter, this issue). A core concern of creative practices of contestation is, in light hereof, an engagement with the question: what could be(come) (Dey and Mason, 2018)? Such engagement is often found in cultural-artistic initiatives, types of creative production that involve imagining other possible worlds-just think of the surreal landscapes of Salvador Dali or the polka dot installations of Yayoi Kusama. There are, further, examples of artistic projects that intervene on both a creative-aesthetic and a critical-political level. The Yes Men collective is an exemplar in this regard, a 'culture jamming' effort that produces artefacts in order to counteract the practices of corporate and political elites. In this way, the Yes Men seek to re-envision the popular social imaginary as well as contest dominant political-economic orders (ibid.; Perini, 2010). The latter is, specifically, grounded in the idea of 'power to' and differs, as such, from traditional positional power (Hales, 2001). We commonly assume that orthodox organizations are characterized by formal hierarchies and institutional structures, exerting authority over those who work within them. Such positional power is often referred to as 'power over' (many others), or power from above (Hales, 2001). The idea of 'power to', however, entails a different approach (Clegg et al., 2006). 'Power to' foregrounds the dynamic and relational components of power. It asks how power can be reduced to a minimum of domination and, moreover, be used to mobilize ideas, action, change, creativity, and people-not least their energies, desires, attitudes, and inclinations (ibid.; Hardt, 2001).
Setting out from the work of Jean-Luc Nancy, this article engages with post-Heideggerian thought ... more Setting out from the work of Jean-Luc Nancy, this article engages with post-Heideggerian thought on community, seeking to bring out and to enhance its political thrust for contemporary democracies. It shows how Jean-Luc Nancy, Roberto Esposito and Giorgio Agamben, 'common the political', that is, how they reconsider politics in light of a fundamental sense of coexistence which clears the ground for social openness, solidarity, plurality and autonomy. It then responds to a series of pertinent objections by further politicizing the post-Heideggerian vision of the common. I set out to translate the ontologies of the common into more concrete political logics by relating them to actual political practices and by joining them to the political theory of hegemony and antagonism set out by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Their conjunction of the 'common' with the antagonistic politics of hegemony is tension-ridden, as they draw from conflicting understandings of 'the political', pitting plurality and horizontal relations against division and uneven power. To mitigate that conflict, these two approaches should be situated at different sites of political action, and the hege-monic framework should be recast so as to bring it more into line with horizontalist 'common' politics.
Post-hegemony' is a critical notion introduced by theorists who take issue with the modern politi... more Post-hegemony' is a critical notion introduced by theorists who take issue with the modern politics of hierarchical organization, representation, unification, the state and ideology: the politics of 'hegemony' according to A. Gramsci and E. Laclau. Posthegemonic thinkers tend to celebrate, by contrast, contemporary social movements which appear to be horizontal, leaderless, participatory, diverse, networked and opposed to the state, global capitalism and ideological closures. Critical responses to the 'post-hegemonic' thesis object that contemporary democratic resistances do not attain, in effect, a full rupture with hegemony or they should not attain it. The paper offers, first, an illuminating, up-to-date map of the different positions in the debate over post-hegemony. It seeks to demonstrate, then, that diverse figures of contemporary activism are indeed post-hegemonic not as this has been understood in most post-hegemonic accounts till now, but in the sense of the 'post-' which implies an impure, ongoing development: a time and a space in-between. The second half of the paper is devoted, thus, to recasting and reformulating the conception of posthegemony, tracing it out in the values, the practices and the logics which inform recent democratic movements, as these craft new modes of unification, leadership and representation beyond the hegemonic mould.
The paper engages with the debate over representation as it is carried out in a particular quarte... more The paper engages with the debate over representation as it is carried out in a particular quarter of contemporary political thought with Marxist and post-structuralist influences.
Transformative action and the creation of the new in history: from Badiou to Castoriadis, James S... more Transformative action and the creation of the new
in history: from Badiou to Castoriadis, James Scott and Richard Day
Critical engagement with the case of Chavismo in Venezuela can offer valuable insights for a full... more Critical engagement with the case of Chavismo in Venezuela can offer valuable insights for a fuller understanding of contemporary populism in Latin America. While for some scholars Chávez's populism has fostered popular empowerment, others dwell on the newly confirmed tensions between populism, liberal rights, and democratic proceduralism. This article embraces both positions but moves beyond their one-sidedness to cast Chavista populism as an inherently contradictory phenomenon that has constituted an ambivalent and transitory process in response to the gradual closure of liberal (post)democracy. Chavista “caesaro-plebeian” populism is construed as a site of tension and contention, which entails both promises and dangers for democracy. To make these points, the article draws on the discursive analysis of populism and on a new, productive shift in the study of populism in Venezuela, which pursues ethnographic field research on social movements instead of focusing exclusively on the figure of the leader.
The paper inquires critically into Podemos as an instance of left-wing populism in contemporary E... more The paper inquires critically into Podemos as an instance of left-wing populism in contemporary European politics, putting forward four claims and a major thesis. First, Podemos was started as an original endeavour to ally in a hybrid mix two divergent approaches to democratic politics: the horizontal, open and networked mobilizations of the multitude, and the vertical, hierarchical, formal and representative structures of party formations, on the other. Such an amalgam might serve to combine the virtues of different models of democracy. Second, Podemos’ populism exemplifies a creative version of a ‘politics of the common’, but the terms of the ‘common sense’ are inflected in the direction of social rights, inclusion and egalitarian democracy. Third, Podemos illustrates a unique ‘reflexivity’ in the pursuit of populism. The party leadership has taken its cues from E. Laclau’s hegemonic theory of populism and implements it in its political strategy. Fourth, since the autumn of 2014, Podemos has arguably seen the gradual preponderance of a vertical, ‘hegemonic’ logic, reflecting a particular reading of populist theory which is prevalent among the party’s leadership. The broader thesis is that a dualist politics, which welds together horizontalism and verticalism in a conflictual bind, is a prima facie plausible strategy for renewing democracy in the present critical context. But a political organization like Podemos will be able to redeem its democratic promises as long as it maintains a constructive balance between these two political logics, avoiding the reassertion of centralized leadership and the suppression of pluralism which are typical of the populist tradition.
http://tcs.sagepub.com/content/31/1/143.short
The paper makes the case that Greece has witnessed a transition from a 'post-democratic' conditio... more The paper makes the case that Greece has witnessed a transition from a 'post-democratic' condition in the '90s and the early 21th century to a regime of 'post-political biopower' in 2010-2012 that can bid democracy farewell. To adequately theorize this modality of power in a way pertinent to contemporary Greece, the paper takes its bearings from Agamben's take on biopower, the homo sacer and the endless state of exception. But the analysis fills in Agamben's theoretical skeleton by drawing on Naomi Klein's account of the 'Shock Doctrine', which captures a particular technique of biopower deployed by neoliberal hegemony, Deleuze's insights about the 'society of control' and Lazzarato's elaborations of these insights with reference to the 'indebted man', which can shed light on the political implications of the Greek debt crisis. Yet popular responses, initiatives and electoral politics, as well as the intricacies of dominant power relations, upset any monolithic and quasitotalitarian account of sovereign rule, disclosing cracks, imbalances and dispersion in its edifice.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08935696.2013.798972#.VPeKROHl\_sA
Phone numbers: 0030-210-3847142, 0030-6076085172 150 word abstract here 2 heading Radical venture... more Phone numbers: 0030-210-3847142, 0030-6076085172 150 word abstract here 2 heading Radical ventures to expand common liberty beyond its actual bounds come up today against various vexing challenges. To note but a few, modern visions of emancipation could count on a web of certainties around universal reason, the trends of history and the proper structure of a free society. 1 Nowadays, however, a plurality of conflicting perspectives on ethics and politics interlocks with acute doubts over the capacity of human reason and agency to attain universal agreement in such matters. Sceptical suspicion extends equally to the possibility of a social order with perfect freedom and equality. Diversity and scepticism on these fronts are coupled with manifold assaults on the idea of a human "essence" that would be released from its bonds in a future society and that gave its point to social emancipation in communist and anarchist alternatives to liberalism. 2 A salient response to the late perplexities of freedom is an "agonistic" turn in its conception, which can be traced out across a wide array of discourses. Social fetters which hinder individual empowerment and collective self-determination can be bent, displaced and undone. But it is highly unlikely, or even impossible, that they will ever be eliminated in full.
This paper is motivated by a long-standing curiosity about the role of scale in explanatory theor... more This paper is motivated by a long-standing curiosity about the role of scale in explanatory theories of socio-economic action. Introducing scale as an analytical variable implies the coexistence of individuals alongside institutions. We make the case that economic activity becomes more sustainable when it is 'colonized' by 'social value' whereby market activity is complemented with community and democratic values, by which we mean the opposite of the commodification of e.g. social networks analytics. We take the Sardex mutual credit system as an empirical context from which to begin exploring the extent to which such community-based economic practices offer a democratic and social alternative to, a questionable substitute for, or a functional supplement to the capitalist market, the welfare state, and public enterprises administered by state bureaucracies. We broach critically the emergence of institutional collective structures from the perspective of social constru...
Contemporary visions of radical democracy mark themselves off from other democratic paradigms thr... more Contemporary visions of radical democracy mark themselves off from other democratic paradigms through the stronger accent that they place on contingency, antagonism, contestation and openness. This emphasis provides a point of convergence for the otherwise disparate figures sketched out by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, on the one hand, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, on the other. 1 In the last decade, however, conceptual developments in this body of thought combined with political events and controversies to sharpen various divisions in radical democracy, highlighting the limits of the different approaches and calling for a renewal of thought. Theoretical dichotomies such as 'vertical', hegemonic organisation versus a 'horizontal' articulation of differences, and 'abundance of being' versus 'constitutive lack' tie in with political conflicts in grassroots movements, which revolve around the need for centralised coordination and stateoriented action. 2 This entwinement has given a more passionate inflection to abstract discussions and has heightened the practical relevance of democratic thought.
European Journal of Social Theory, Jan 1, 2012
Philosophy & Social Criticism, Jan 1, 2011
Contemporary Political Theory, Jan 1, 2008
The last decades have witnessed the emergence of a burgeoning literature on freedom which has set... more The last decades have witnessed the emergence of a burgeoning literature on freedom which has set out to reconfigure this idea in response to the critique of the autonomous subject. The paper has three main objectives. It engages critically with this new field of theory by exploring two divergent strands of thought: a recast form of liberal autonomy and agonistic freedom as envisioned by M. Foucault, C.
European Journal of Political Theory, Jan 1, 2009
Freedom occupies centre stage among the fields that went through various realignments due to 'the... more Freedom occupies centre stage among the fields that went through various realignments due to 'the critique of the subject' and the keener perception of contingency in 20 th century thought. In this refiguring of freedom, attention has tended so far to focus on the work of individual thinkers such as the later Michel Foucault and Richard Rorty. But there is little awareness that a whole new scheme of thought has taken shape over time, cohering around a shared nexus of premises and responses to particular stakes.
Constellations, Jan 1, 2010
Contemporary notions of radical democracy mark themselves off from other democratic paradigms thr... more Contemporary notions of radical democracy mark themselves off from other democratic paradigms through the stronger emphasis they place on contingency, antagonism, contestation and openness. This emphasis provides a point of convergence for the otherwise disparate ...
This paper examines nascent alternative approaches to "commoning" and "common goods" that have be... more This paper examines nascent alternative approaches to "commoning" and "common goods" that have been developed over the last decade by a unique coalition of lawyers, grassroots initiatives, and local governments in Italian cities, notably Bologna and Naples. The aim is to flesh out and to critically appraise two variants of a strategy for advancing urban commons in the direction of Integrative Governance, civic equality, power-with, solidarity, plurality, openness, and care for the city: the "Bologna Model" and the "Neapolitan Way." The argument is that the two strategies diverge in crucial respects, the former being more top-down and potentially compromising than the latter. Both, however, bear promise and potential for commons-oriented change, opening up processes of new social invention, deeper democratization, political contestation, and counter-hegemonic intervention.
This paper advances the thesis that democratic populism and the commons can and should complement... more This paper advances the thesis that democratic populism and the commons can and should complement each other in counter-hegemonic interventions promoting egalitarian and ecological democracy in our times. After elucidating its key terms, the article makes, first, a theoretical case for the combination of egalitarian, inclusionary populism and the commons by debunking arguments which highlight the conflicts between them and by explaining the political significance of their conjugation. Subsequently, discussion builds an empirical argument for the real possibility and the democratic promises of such a convergence by considering three ways in which populist politics and the commons merge and recompose each other in contemporary social movements, from the Spanish 15M and new municipalism to Occupy and other collective contestation in the Americas over the last two decades. These cases will illustrate how late social activism has effectively blended populist mobilization with the spirit of the commons, engendering a hybrid figure of 'common populism' that fosters grassroots processes of democratization.
Since the 1990s, the global expansion of neoliberal rule has been accompanied by the rise of 'ano... more Since the 1990s, the global expansion of neoliberal rule has been accompanied by the rise of 'another politics,' or 'alter-politics,' to use a term disseminated by the anthropologist Ghassan Hage (2015). Grassroots movements, civic initiatives and new citizens' platforms, such as those of 'new municipalism' in Spain (from 2015 onwards), have pursued new modes of politics. Τhese break with the top-down, centralized and 'ideological' forms of political activity that often sway the state politics of the government or the party. Such 'alter-politics' from the grassroots also departs from typical forms ofconventional modern activism and opposition that areis bent on protest and demands from the state, or they areit is locked up in insularity, or itthey cleaves to ideological dogmas and steps forward as a vanguard and can be also vertical and dogmatic. .
In this issue, for example, Kioupkiolis and Zechner illustrate how political strategies and tacti... more In this issue, for example, Kioupkiolis and Zechner illustrate how political strategies and tactics can subvert uneven, constraining social hierarchies, orders, and divisions in the virtual spaces reclaimed for peer-to-peer production (in the former case) and urban spaces reclaimed for self-organized childcare (in the latter case). These contributions demonstrate how it is possible to build powerful 'counter-empires' that allow 'not being governed or…not being governed like that and at that cost' (Foucault, 1997: 29). Subversion and resistance can, however, also be expressed in more creativeexplorative forms that foreground imagination and experimentation, forms that are guided by an interest in creating new ideas, possibilities, and 'ways of seeing, being, and relating' (Perini, 2010: 183)-and, hence, inventing alternatives to the status quo (see also Karakilic and Painter, this issue). A core concern of creative practices of contestation is, in light hereof, an engagement with the question: what could be(come) (Dey and Mason, 2018)? Such engagement is often found in cultural-artistic initiatives, types of creative production that involve imagining other possible worlds-just think of the surreal landscapes of Salvador Dali or the polka dot installations of Yayoi Kusama. There are, further, examples of artistic projects that intervene on both a creative-aesthetic and a critical-political level. The Yes Men collective is an exemplar in this regard, a 'culture jamming' effort that produces artefacts in order to counteract the practices of corporate and political elites. In this way, the Yes Men seek to re-envision the popular social imaginary as well as contest dominant political-economic orders (ibid.; Perini, 2010). The latter is, specifically, grounded in the idea of 'power to' and differs, as such, from traditional positional power (Hales, 2001). We commonly assume that orthodox organizations are characterized by formal hierarchies and institutional structures, exerting authority over those who work within them. Such positional power is often referred to as 'power over' (many others), or power from above (Hales, 2001). The idea of 'power to', however, entails a different approach (Clegg et al., 2006). 'Power to' foregrounds the dynamic and relational components of power. It asks how power can be reduced to a minimum of domination and, moreover, be used to mobilize ideas, action, change, creativity, and people-not least their energies, desires, attitudes, and inclinations (ibid.; Hardt, 2001).
Setting out from the work of Jean-Luc Nancy, this article engages with post-Heideggerian thought ... more Setting out from the work of Jean-Luc Nancy, this article engages with post-Heideggerian thought on community, seeking to bring out and to enhance its political thrust for contemporary democracies. It shows how Jean-Luc Nancy, Roberto Esposito and Giorgio Agamben, 'common the political', that is, how they reconsider politics in light of a fundamental sense of coexistence which clears the ground for social openness, solidarity, plurality and autonomy. It then responds to a series of pertinent objections by further politicizing the post-Heideggerian vision of the common. I set out to translate the ontologies of the common into more concrete political logics by relating them to actual political practices and by joining them to the political theory of hegemony and antagonism set out by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Their conjunction of the 'common' with the antagonistic politics of hegemony is tension-ridden, as they draw from conflicting understandings of 'the political', pitting plurality and horizontal relations against division and uneven power. To mitigate that conflict, these two approaches should be situated at different sites of political action, and the hege-monic framework should be recast so as to bring it more into line with horizontalist 'common' politics.
Post-hegemony' is a critical notion introduced by theorists who take issue with the modern politi... more Post-hegemony' is a critical notion introduced by theorists who take issue with the modern politics of hierarchical organization, representation, unification, the state and ideology: the politics of 'hegemony' according to A. Gramsci and E. Laclau. Posthegemonic thinkers tend to celebrate, by contrast, contemporary social movements which appear to be horizontal, leaderless, participatory, diverse, networked and opposed to the state, global capitalism and ideological closures. Critical responses to the 'post-hegemonic' thesis object that contemporary democratic resistances do not attain, in effect, a full rupture with hegemony or they should not attain it. The paper offers, first, an illuminating, up-to-date map of the different positions in the debate over post-hegemony. It seeks to demonstrate, then, that diverse figures of contemporary activism are indeed post-hegemonic not as this has been understood in most post-hegemonic accounts till now, but in the sense of the 'post-' which implies an impure, ongoing development: a time and a space in-between. The second half of the paper is devoted, thus, to recasting and reformulating the conception of posthegemony, tracing it out in the values, the practices and the logics which inform recent democratic movements, as these craft new modes of unification, leadership and representation beyond the hegemonic mould.
The paper engages with the debate over representation as it is carried out in a particular quarte... more The paper engages with the debate over representation as it is carried out in a particular quarter of contemporary political thought with Marxist and post-structuralist influences.
Transformative action and the creation of the new in history: from Badiou to Castoriadis, James S... more Transformative action and the creation of the new
in history: from Badiou to Castoriadis, James Scott and Richard Day
Critical engagement with the case of Chavismo in Venezuela can offer valuable insights for a full... more Critical engagement with the case of Chavismo in Venezuela can offer valuable insights for a fuller understanding of contemporary populism in Latin America. While for some scholars Chávez's populism has fostered popular empowerment, others dwell on the newly confirmed tensions between populism, liberal rights, and democratic proceduralism. This article embraces both positions but moves beyond their one-sidedness to cast Chavista populism as an inherently contradictory phenomenon that has constituted an ambivalent and transitory process in response to the gradual closure of liberal (post)democracy. Chavista “caesaro-plebeian” populism is construed as a site of tension and contention, which entails both promises and dangers for democracy. To make these points, the article draws on the discursive analysis of populism and on a new, productive shift in the study of populism in Venezuela, which pursues ethnographic field research on social movements instead of focusing exclusively on the figure of the leader.
The paper inquires critically into Podemos as an instance of left-wing populism in contemporary E... more The paper inquires critically into Podemos as an instance of left-wing populism in contemporary European politics, putting forward four claims and a major thesis. First, Podemos was started as an original endeavour to ally in a hybrid mix two divergent approaches to democratic politics: the horizontal, open and networked mobilizations of the multitude, and the vertical, hierarchical, formal and representative structures of party formations, on the other. Such an amalgam might serve to combine the virtues of different models of democracy. Second, Podemos’ populism exemplifies a creative version of a ‘politics of the common’, but the terms of the ‘common sense’ are inflected in the direction of social rights, inclusion and egalitarian democracy. Third, Podemos illustrates a unique ‘reflexivity’ in the pursuit of populism. The party leadership has taken its cues from E. Laclau’s hegemonic theory of populism and implements it in its political strategy. Fourth, since the autumn of 2014, Podemos has arguably seen the gradual preponderance of a vertical, ‘hegemonic’ logic, reflecting a particular reading of populist theory which is prevalent among the party’s leadership. The broader thesis is that a dualist politics, which welds together horizontalism and verticalism in a conflictual bind, is a prima facie plausible strategy for renewing democracy in the present critical context. But a political organization like Podemos will be able to redeem its democratic promises as long as it maintains a constructive balance between these two political logics, avoiding the reassertion of centralized leadership and the suppression of pluralism which are typical of the populist tradition.
http://tcs.sagepub.com/content/31/1/143.short
The paper makes the case that Greece has witnessed a transition from a 'post-democratic' conditio... more The paper makes the case that Greece has witnessed a transition from a 'post-democratic' condition in the '90s and the early 21th century to a regime of 'post-political biopower' in 2010-2012 that can bid democracy farewell. To adequately theorize this modality of power in a way pertinent to contemporary Greece, the paper takes its bearings from Agamben's take on biopower, the homo sacer and the endless state of exception. But the analysis fills in Agamben's theoretical skeleton by drawing on Naomi Klein's account of the 'Shock Doctrine', which captures a particular technique of biopower deployed by neoliberal hegemony, Deleuze's insights about the 'society of control' and Lazzarato's elaborations of these insights with reference to the 'indebted man', which can shed light on the political implications of the Greek debt crisis. Yet popular responses, initiatives and electoral politics, as well as the intricacies of dominant power relations, upset any monolithic and quasitotalitarian account of sovereign rule, disclosing cracks, imbalances and dispersion in its edifice.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08935696.2013.798972#.VPeKROHl\_sA
Phone numbers: 0030-210-3847142, 0030-6076085172 150 word abstract here 2 heading Radical venture... more Phone numbers: 0030-210-3847142, 0030-6076085172 150 word abstract here 2 heading Radical ventures to expand common liberty beyond its actual bounds come up today against various vexing challenges. To note but a few, modern visions of emancipation could count on a web of certainties around universal reason, the trends of history and the proper structure of a free society. 1 Nowadays, however, a plurality of conflicting perspectives on ethics and politics interlocks with acute doubts over the capacity of human reason and agency to attain universal agreement in such matters. Sceptical suspicion extends equally to the possibility of a social order with perfect freedom and equality. Diversity and scepticism on these fronts are coupled with manifold assaults on the idea of a human "essence" that would be released from its bonds in a future society and that gave its point to social emancipation in communist and anarchist alternatives to liberalism. 2 A salient response to the late perplexities of freedom is an "agonistic" turn in its conception, which can be traced out across a wide array of discourses. Social fetters which hinder individual empowerment and collective self-determination can be bent, displaced and undone. But it is highly unlikely, or even impossible, that they will ever be eliminated in full.
This paper is motivated by a long-standing curiosity about the role of scale in explanatory theor... more This paper is motivated by a long-standing curiosity about the role of scale in explanatory theories of socio-economic action. Introducing scale as an analytical variable implies the coexistence of individuals alongside institutions. We make the case that economic activity becomes more sustainable when it is 'colonized' by 'social value' whereby market activity is complemented with community and democratic values, by which we mean the opposite of the commodification of e.g. social networks analytics. We take the Sardex mutual credit system as an empirical context from which to begin exploring the extent to which such community-based economic practices offer a democratic and social alternative to, a questionable substitute for, or a functional supplement to the capitalist market, the welfare state, and public enterprises administered by state bureaucracies. We broach critically the emergence of institutional collective structures from the perspective of social constru...
Contemporary visions of radical democracy mark themselves off from other democratic paradigms thr... more Contemporary visions of radical democracy mark themselves off from other democratic paradigms through the stronger accent that they place on contingency, antagonism, contestation and openness. This emphasis provides a point of convergence for the otherwise disparate figures sketched out by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, on the one hand, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, on the other. 1 In the last decade, however, conceptual developments in this body of thought combined with political events and controversies to sharpen various divisions in radical democracy, highlighting the limits of the different approaches and calling for a renewal of thought. Theoretical dichotomies such as 'vertical', hegemonic organisation versus a 'horizontal' articulation of differences, and 'abundance of being' versus 'constitutive lack' tie in with political conflicts in grassroots movements, which revolve around the need for centralised coordination and stateoriented action. 2 This entwinement has given a more passionate inflection to abstract discussions and has heightened the practical relevance of democratic thought.
European Journal of Social Theory, Jan 1, 2012
Philosophy & Social Criticism, Jan 1, 2011
Contemporary Political Theory, Jan 1, 2008
The last decades have witnessed the emergence of a burgeoning literature on freedom which has set... more The last decades have witnessed the emergence of a burgeoning literature on freedom which has set out to reconfigure this idea in response to the critique of the autonomous subject. The paper has three main objectives. It engages critically with this new field of theory by exploring two divergent strands of thought: a recast form of liberal autonomy and agonistic freedom as envisioned by M. Foucault, C.
European Journal of Political Theory, Jan 1, 2009
Freedom occupies centre stage among the fields that went through various realignments due to 'the... more Freedom occupies centre stage among the fields that went through various realignments due to 'the critique of the subject' and the keener perception of contingency in 20 th century thought. In this refiguring of freedom, attention has tended so far to focus on the work of individual thinkers such as the later Michel Foucault and Richard Rorty. But there is little awareness that a whole new scheme of thought has taken shape over time, cohering around a shared nexus of premises and responses to particular stakes.
Constellations, Jan 1, 2010
Contemporary notions of radical democracy mark themselves off from other democratic paradigms thr... more Contemporary notions of radical democracy mark themselves off from other democratic paradigms through the stronger emphasis they place on contingency, antagonism, contestation and openness. This emphasis provides a point of convergence for the otherwise disparate ...
Report on the Common, 2020
Extensive theoretical analysis of different approaches to the commons and the politics of the com... more Extensive theoretical analysis of different approaches to the commons and the politics of the common(s) in terms of transformative potentials and counter-hegemonic politics, including an account of the expansion of commoning in Italy through civic initiatives and municipal institutional support
Report on the Political, 2020
Extensive theoretical analysis of the concept of the political, alternative democratic politics (... more Extensive theoretical analysis of the concept of the political, alternative democratic politics (alter-politics or heteropolitics), hegemony, populism, 'common hegemony', new municipalism and social change in our times
Edinburgh University Press, 2019
Introduces agonistic theory and hegemony into contemporary debates on the common Alexandros Kio... more Introduces agonistic theory and hegemony into contemporary debates on the common
Alexandros Kioupkiolis re-conceptualises the common in tandem with the political. By engaging with key thinkers of community and the commons, he harnesses the political thrust of a radical democratic politics of solidarity, equality and collective self-organisation. He calls into play poststructuralist conceptions of agonism and hegemony to remedy the failure of existing theories of the commons' to address power relations and division.
Kioupkiolis argues that an effective politics of the common(s) must be combined with the politics of hegemony to advance another social configuration beyond state and capital. In the spirit of contemporary collective action, the strategy of hegemony should be transfigured by striking an imbalance between vertical structures and horizontal autonomy in favour of the common.
Key Features
Draws on the work of Jean-Luc Nancy, Chantal Mouffe, Elinor Ostrom, Hardt and Negri, and Ernesto Laclau
Breaks new ground by introducing agonistic theory and hegemony in the contemporary debate on the commons and community
Clarifies contemporary theory by engaging with present-day examples of the politics of the common(s), including the governance of the digital commons, recent democratic mobilisations such as the Occupy movements and citizens’ municipal platforms of self-governance
Contents
About the Author
Preface: The Long Run
Acknowledgements
Commoning the Political, Politicising the Common
Community and the Political in J. L. Nancy, R. Esposito, G. Agamben, E. Laclau and C. Mouffe
From the Commons to Another Politics of Egalitarian Autonomy
Common Pool Resources, Digital and Anticapitalist Commons, from E. Ostrom to Marxist Autonomism
Common and Communism: Political Theories For Radical Change
From Hardt & Negri, Dardot & Laval to Badiou and Žižek
Taking on Hegemony and the Political
Reclaiming Post-Marxist Hegemony for the Commons
Movements Post-Hegemony
Common Democracy
Political Representation and Government as Commons
Endnotes
References
by Christy (Chryssanthi) Petropoulou, Athina Vitopoulou, Haris Tsavdaroglou, Michail Psimitis, Paula Soto Villagrán, Karla Helena Guzmán Velázquez, Maddalena Gretel Cammelli, Marvi Maggio, Vassilis Dalkavoukis, Cristina Mattiucci, and Alexandros Kioupkiolis
"Collective Identities Versus Social Exclusion: The December 2008 Greek Youth Movement" This art... more "Collective Identities Versus Social Exclusion: The December 2008 Greek Youth Movement"
This article is trying to highlight some identity aspects of the Greek youth movement that seem to be appropriate in order to understand and interpret similar collective actions of excluded people against social exclusion. The core of the argument is that the notion of “collective identity” is more appropriate than others for our understanding of the complex interactions among different and heterogeneous
youth groups that participated actively in the December 2008 riots. In our case, it is precisely the emergence of creative symbolic and physical interactions during rioting, that should be considered as the main factor in the construction of a
collective identity that led to the rise of a youth movement in Greece.
Εδώ και αρκετά χρόνια η έννοια του “λόγου” έχει γίνει της μόδας. Σε επιστημονικά κείμενα και διαλ... more Εδώ και αρκετά χρόνια η έννοια του “λόγου” έχει γίνει της μόδας. Σε επιστημονικά κείμενα και διαλέξεις χρησιμοποιείται κατά κόρον, συχνά μάλιστα χωρίς να ορίζεται καν. Αλλά και όταν χρησιμοποιείται με επιστημονική ακρίβεια, παρατηρείται πως αποκτά αρκετά διαφορετική σημασία μέσα σε διαφορετικά συμφραζόμενα. Παρόλα αυτά, μια κοινή παραδοχή που διατρέχει τις ποικίλες εκφάνσεις της έννοιας του “λόγου” είναι η ιδέα ότι αποτελεί έναν ιδιαίτερο τρόπο να μιλάμε, να κατανοούμε και να συγκροτούμε τον κόσμο ή μια επιμέρους διάστασή του. Ακριβώς επειδή μέσα από τους εκάστοτε λόγους αναπαρίστανται οι διάφοροι τρόποι με τους οποίους εννοιολογούμε και κατασκευάζουμε την πραγματικότητα, η “θεωρία του λόγου” αποτελεί ένα ιδιαίτερα χρήσιμο εργαλείο για την ανάλυση κοινωνικών φαινομένων. Το πρόβλημα, ωστόσο, είναι με ποιον τρόπο μπορούν να αξιοποιηθούν τα θεωρητικά εργαλεία και η μεθοδολογία στη μελέτη του κοινωνικού κόσμου. Σκοπός του συλλογικού τόμου που προτείνουμε είναι να καταστήσει τη “θεωρία του λόγου” προσιτή μέσα από συγκεκριμένα παραδείγματα ανάλυσης από διάφορα πεδία, αλλά και να προωθήσει το δημιουργικό διεπιστημονικό διάλογο ανάμεσα σε ερευνητές και ερευνήτριες που χρησιμοποιούν με ποικίλους τρόπους τα εργαλεία της θεωρίας του λόγου στα ιδιαίτερα ερευνητικά τους πεδία. Αντλώντας από μια ποικιλία θεματικών που εκτείνονται από την εκπαίδευση και την παιδική ηλικία μέχρι την πολιτική και τις λαϊκές κουλτούρες, η έκδοση αυτή θα προσπαθήσει να γεφυρώσει τη θεωρία με τις εφαρμογές της καλύπτοντας ένα πολύ σημαντικό κενό της ελληνικής βιβλιογραφίας. Συγκεκριμένα, στην Ελλάδα υπάρχουν λίγα σχετικά βιβλία, τα οποία είναι αμιγώς θεωρητικά. Όμως όπως διαπιστώσαμε επανειλημμένως μέσα από την εμπειρία της διδασκαλίας, ειδικά για τους νέους ερευνητές, είναι συχνά πολύ δύσκολο το πέρασμα από τη θεωρία στην εφαρμογή. Πρόκειται επομένως για ένα βιβλιογραφικό κενό που δεν αποτιμάται απλώς με όρους αγοράς, αλλά αφορά ένα βιβλίο που πιστεύουμε ότι μπορεί να καλύψει μια πραγματική διδακτική και ερευνητική ανάγκη.
"The ‘Arab spring’, the Spanish ‘Indignados’, the Greek ‘Aganaktismenoi’ and the ‘Occupy Wall Str... more "The ‘Arab spring’, the Spanish ‘Indignados’, the Greek ‘Aganaktismenoi’ and the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement all share a number of distinctive traits. They made extensive use of social networking and were committed to the direct democratic participation of all as they co-ordinated and conducted their actions. Leaderless and self-organised, they were socially and ideologically heterogeneous, dismissing fixed agendas or ideologies. Still, the assembled multitudes that animated these mobilisations often claimed to speak in the name of ‘the people’, and they aspired to empowered forms of egalitarian self-government in common.
Similar features have marked collective resistances from the Zapatistas and the Seattle protests onwards, giving rise to theoretical and practical debates over the importance of these ideological and political forms. By engaging with the controversy between the autonomous, biopolitical ‘multitude’ of Hardt and Negri and the arguments in favour of the hegemony of ‘the people’ advanced by J. Rancière, E. Laclau, C. Mouffe and S. Žižek the central aim of this book is to discuss these instances of collective mobilisation, to probe the innovative practices and ideas they have developed and to debate their potential to reinvigorate democracy whilst seeking something better than ‘disaster capitalism’.
***
Contents: Introduction: radical democracy and collective movements today: responding to the challenges of kairos, Alexandros Kioupkiolis and Giorgos Katsambekis; Post-hegemony: politics outside the usual post-Marxist paradigm, Benjamin Arditi; Letter to a Greek anarchist: on multitudes, peoples, and new empires, Richard J.F. Day and Nick Montgomery; Sovereignty of the people, Jodi Dean; Occupy and autonomous political life, Saul Newman; Hegemony or post-hegemony? Discourse, representation and the revenge(s) of the real, Yannis Stavrakakis; Generalised antagonism and political ontology in the debate between Laclau and Negri, Paul Rekret; A hegemony of the multitude: muddling the lines, Alexandros Kioupkiolis; The multitudinous moment(s) of the people: democratic agency disrupting established binarisms, Giorgos Katsambekis; Representation and political space in Laclau and Hardt and Negri, Andy Knott; Autonomy and hegemony in the squares: the 2011 protests in Greece and Spain, Marina Prentoulis and Lasse Thomassen; Index.
***
Reviews:
‘People or Multitude, Hegemony or Autonomy, Laclau or Negri? This is the crucial dilemma the “age of resistance” we have entered poses to theory and politics. This sophisticated volume brings together some of the most interesting younger scholars to examine the many aspects of the dilemma. The alternatives are mapped in their full complexity and are backed with detailed empirical evidence from the movements in Spain, Greece and Occupy. This collection will become a classic in radical political philosophy.’
--Costas Douzinas, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
‘At a time when we have to make sense of the worldwide protests unfolding since 2011 this book comes at exactly the right moment. Intervening into the heated debates around the question of political representation and the necessity of constructing a new left wing hegemony, this book is a must-read for everyone interested in the topic of collective protest.’
--Oliver Marchart, Düsseldorf Art Academy, Germany"
Τα «κοινά», οι συλλογικοί, φυσικοί και πολιτισμικοί πόροι που διαχειριζόμαστε από κοινού με συμμε... more Τα «κοινά», οι συλλογικοί, φυσικοί και πολιτισμικοί πόροι που διαχειριζόμαστε από κοινού με συμμετοχικές πρακτικές, αναδεικνύονται σήμερα στην κριτική θεωρία και πράξη ως ένας από τους βασικούς κόμβους της αυτόνομης πληθυντικής ανοικοδόμησης. Η ενδυνάμωσή τους δεν πλουτίζει μόνο την εμπειρία της κοινωνικής αυτοκυβέρνησης μέσα από αμεσοδημοκρατικούς θεσμούς και κοινότητες σε πολιτισμικούς χώρους, στην εκπαίδευση, το διαδίκτυο, την κατανάλωση και την παραγωγή. Κτίζει εδώ και τώρα τα μικροθεμέλια της καθημερινής επιβίωσης και συμβίωσης με τους όρους των άλλων κόσμων στους οποίους προσβλέπουμε, εξασφαλίζει τις υλικές και θεσμικές προϋποθέσεις της μετάβασης προς αυτούς και διαπλάθει την άλλη εξισωτική ηθική της κοινής αυτοδιεύθυνσης.
Τέτοιες δυναμικές κοινωνικού αυτομετασχηματισμού θα επεκταθούν αβίαστα και θα πολλαπλασιαστούν σε όλο και περισσότερα πεδία του κοινωνικού μέσα από το ελκυστικό τους παράδειγμα και την εκούσια σύμπραξη. Η διά της βίας κατίσχυση σχέσεων ίσης ελευθερίας είναι αντίφαση εν τοις όροις. Αυτό δεν σημαίνει, όμως, ότι οι εναλλακτικές επιτελέσεις μπορούν ν’ αγνοήσουν απλώς τα κράτη και τις αγορές. Γι’ αυτό και χρειάζεται μια σύζευξή τους με τις πολιτικές λογικές της ηγεμονίας. Όχι για να κατακτηθεί το κράτος και να επιταχθεί ένα άλλο ενιαίο κοινωνικό πρότυπο αλλά για ν’ αντιμετωπιστεί το ζήτημα της αναδιάταξης των σχέσεων εξουσίας και των τρόπων σύνθεσης των διαφορών και οργάνωσης των δεσμών μεταξύ των αυτοδιευθυνόμενων κοινών. Για να σκεφτούμε και να συστήσουμε μια άλλη ηγεμονία, της πλουραλιστικής, αποκεντρωμένης και εξισωτικής αυτονομίας.
Πολιτικές της ελευθερίας Πολιτικές της ελευθερίας Αγωνιστική δημοκρατία, μετά-αναρχ... more Πολιτικές της ελευθερίας
Πολιτικές της ελευθερίας
Αγωνιστική δημοκρατία, μετά-αναρχικές ουτοπίες και η ανάδυση του πλήθους
Αλέξανδρος Κιουπκιολής
Εκκρεμές, 2011
215 σελ.
ISBN 978-960-7651-84-6, [Κυκλοφορεί - Εκκρεμής εγγραφή]
Τιμή € 14,80
Πολιτικές επιστήμες [DDC: 320]
Πολιτική ιδεολογία - Λόγοι, δοκίμια, διαλέξεις [DDC: 320.5]
Δημοκρατία - Λόγοι, δοκίμια, διαλέξεις [DDC: 321.4]
Ποιες είναι οι γενικές πολιτικές προϋποθέσεις για να συγκροτηθούν σήμερα αποτελεσματικά σχήματα πολιτικού ανταγωνισμού που θα αποκρίνονται σε επιτακτικές κοινωνικές ανάγκες με όρους πραγματικής ενίσχυσης της ίσης ελευθερίας; Το ερώτημα αυτό διατυπώνεται στο φόντο μιας "μεταπολιτικής" καμπής των κοινοβουλευτικών καθεστώτων της αγοράς και εγείρεται στην εγχώρια συγκυρία ενός πρωτοφανούς κοινωνικού κλυδωνισμού.
Η πολιτική θεωρία που βρίσκει έκφραση στα τέσσερα κείμενα της συλλογής θυμάται ότι η πολιτική είναι η τέχνη του "καιρού", της σύλληψης της συγκυρίας, του αδράγματος της ευκαιρίας. Έτσι τα δοκίμια εκκινούν από γεγονότα που συνδέονται με την επικαιρότητα: μια ακολουθία διαδηλώσεων, τα δεκεμβριανά του 2008, η έκδοση ενός βιβλίου που μελετά την πολιτική ιδιοσυγκρασία των ημερών μας, ποικίλες πρόσφατες πρωτοβουλίες συλλογικής αυτοδιεύθυνσης, όπως οι εργατικές επιχειρήσεις στην Αργεντινή και οι αυτοδιαχειριζόμενοι χώροι στην ημεδαπή.
Κύριος στόχος είναι η κριτική επεξεργασία πολιτικών φιλοσοφιών και πρακτικών που εντοπίζονται σε επιμέρους τόπους της όψιμης νεοτερικότητας και προσφέρονται για την προαγωγή της ισότητας και της ελευθερίας.
Το εγχείρημα αυτό καταφεύγει σε δύο ετερόκλιτες δεξαμενές σκέψης: από τη μια, τη θεωρία της "ηγεμονίας" και της ριζοσπαστικής δημοκρατίας που εξυφαίνουν από το 1985 οι μεταμαρξιστές θεωρητικοί Ernesto Laclau και Chantal Mouffe, και από την άλλη, τα μανιφέστα της "αυτονομίας", του οριζόντιου δημιουργικού πλήθους και των μετα-αναρχικών τάσεων που έχουν διακινηθεί τα τελευταία χρόνια από στοχαστές όπως οι Toni Negri και Michael Hardt, ο John Holloway και o Richard Day. Ο Laclau και η Mouffe καταθέτουν μια οξυδερκή διάγνωση για τις δυσφορίες της δημοκρατίας και εκφέρουν μια άποψη για "το πολιτικό" με την οποία απορρίπτουν σχεδιασμούς των σύγχρονων αντιστάσεων που κλίνουν υπέρ του δημιουργικού αυθορμητισμού και της αναρχικής αποκέντρωσης.
Aπό την άλλη, οι θιασώτες της οριζόντιας σύνταξης των κινημάτων επιμένουν ότι η αντι-ιεραρχική δικτύωση των πολυφωνικών υποκειμένων και ανταγωνισμών επινοεί τρόπους πολιτικού συντονισμού που διασαλεύουν τους καταναγκασμούς του κεφαλαίου και του πολιτικού συγκεντρωτισμού, αντικρούοντας τους προσανατολισμούς της "ηγεμονίας".
Κεντρική υπόθεση της πολιτικής πρότασης που διερευνούμε εδώ είναι η εξής. Το εγχείρημα της συνάρθρωσης ανταγωνιστικών σχηματισμών που θα αλλάξουν δημιουργικά την κυρίαρχη τάξη πραγμάτων θα ήταν σκόπιμο να εμπνευστεί παράλληλα και συνθετικά από τις δύο πολιτικές αντιλήψεις που προαναφέραμε. Γιατί αυτές σφυρηλατήθηκαν συστηματικά τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες μέσα από την κριτική αλληλεπίδραση των μετασχηματισμών της πράξης και της ριζοσπαστικής σκέψης, ανανεώνοντας τον μαρξισμό και τον αναρχισμό σε όλη τους την πολυμορφία και συνθετότητα. Η πρόταση που σκιαγραφείται εδώ, λοιπόν, επιχειρεί να συμβάλει στην ανάπτυξη των δύο προσεγγίσεων μέσω μιας ιδιότυπης διαζευκτικής τους σύζευξης.
Freedom After the Critique of Foundations engages with the work of the Greek-French thinker Corne... more Freedom After the Critique of Foundations engages with the work of the Greek-French thinker Cornelius Castoriadis, a founding member of the Socialisme ou Barbarie group whose ideas inspired the French May '68, in order to formulate an account of
agonistic autonomy for individuals and societies. This is a critical conception of freedom which informs a broad spectrum of contemporary political thought and practice, ranging from theories of agonistic democracy and Foucault's ethic of 'care for the self' to the liberal pluralism of Joseph Raz, post-anarchist thought and contemporary movements for global justice and 'real democracy'. The discussion shows how agonistic autonomy brings together imagination, radical reflection, self-creation, pluralism and an ongoing struggle against closed identities in order to challenge and enhance Marxian and liberal ideas of freedom. The book tackles the problem of relativism and addresses a wider range of ontological, ethical and political questions raised by an agonistic outlook which dismisses objective foundations in science, history and morality.
Από τεχνικός και απόκρυφος όρος στο λεξιλόγιο μιας δράκας μεταμαρξιστών και νοσταλγών της σοσιαλδ... more Από τεχνικός και απόκρυφος όρος στο λεξιλόγιο μιας δράκας μεταμαρξιστών και νοσταλγών της σοσιαλδημοκρατίας,1 η «μεταπολιτική» τείνει να γίνει τα τελευταία χρόνια μια λέξη του αναλυτικού συρμού, μαζί με τη σχεδόν συνώνυμη «μεταδημοκρατία».2 Σημείο συμπύκνωσης όλης της παθολογίας των «υπαρκτών δημοκρατιών» της Δύσης, κατονομάζει και καταγγέλλει καθεστώτα που διατηρούν το τυπικό κέλυφος των φιλελεύθερων και δημοκρατικών θεσμών, ενώ σε αυτά η κοινωνική επιρροή στην εξουσία φθίνει διαρκώς, όπως και η συμμετοχή στην πολιτική των κομμάτων, στις μαζικές κινητοποιήσεις και τα συνδικάτα. Στις συνθήκες της μεταπολιτικής, τα κατεστημένα κόμματα της Κεντροαριστεράς και της Κεντροδεξιάς έχουν αποψιλωθεί από τις ουσιαστικές διαφορές τους, συγκλίνοντας στα ίδια νεοφιλελεύθερα δόγματα προς όφελος εταιρικών και διαπλεκόμενων συμφερόντων. Ο καταναλωτικός, απολίτικος ατομικισμός, η πολιτική αδιαφορία και ο κυνισμός μιας κρίσιμης μάζας των πολιτών είναι η άλλη όψη της κοινής πίστης των κομμάτων εξουσίας στο νεοφιλελεύθερο credo.Η οιονεί διαγραφή της διαχωριστικής γραμμής ανάμεσα στην Αριστερά και τη Δεξιά στην κεντρική πολιτική σκηνή· η συνακόλουθη έκλειψη των προγραμματικών διαφορών και των ριζικών ανταγωνισμών· η μετάφραση πολιτικών ζητημάτων σε τεχνικά ζητήματα που αφορούν την αποτελεσματικότερη επίτευξη δεδομένων στόχων· ο αυξανόμενος ρόλος των «ειδικών» στην πολιτική και οικονομική διακυβέρνηση: όλα αυτά είναι σήματα κατατεθέντα της ίδιας μεταπολιτικής δημοκρατίας.
Μεταπολιτική σημαίνει, εν ολίγοις, ότι οι θεμελιώδεις αποφάσεις για την οικονομία και την πολιτική δεν αποτελούν πλέον αντικείμενο συλλογικής αντιπαράθεσης και διαβούλευσης, η λαϊκή συμμετοχή στα κοινά είναι ελάχιστη, η διακυβέρνηση διολισθαίνει σε τεχνοκρατική, μανατζερίστικη διαχείριση, και οι πολιτικές διαμάχες ουσίας έχουν δώσει τη θέση τους σε έναν θεαματικό, μιντιακό αγώνα εξουσίας ανάμεσα σε αντιπάλους με ελάχιστες ουσιαστικές διαφορές. Ενώ το θεσμικό ένδυμα της δημοκρατίας παραμένει εν πολλοίς στη θέση του, η κυρίαρχη εξουσία περνάει στα χέρια εταιρικών και πολιτικών ελίτ όπως συμβαίνει σε μη δημοκρατικές πολιτείες. Οι υλικές και πολιτικές ανισότητες οξύνονται σε βάρος των απλών εργαζομένων, προς όφελος μεγάλων εταιρειών, πλούσιων ολιγαρχών και πολιτικών ηγετών του κατεστημένου.
Το σκηνικό αυτό και η συναφής θρηνωδία μας είναι σήμερα οικεία, πολύ οικεία, κι ο ίδιος ο γράφων έχει επιστρατεύσει συχνά αυτό το σχήμα κριτικής ανάλυσης. Η τωρινή συγκυρία ωστόσο, στις αρχές του 2015, δείχνει ότι ήρθε ίσως η ώρα να αλλάξουμε ματιά στα πράγματα και να δούμε φως μέσα στο μεταπολιτικό σκοτάδι. Ο λόγος δεν είναι μόνο ή κυρίως οι προοπτικές μίας και περισσότερων κυβερνήσεων της Αριστεράς στον ευρωπαϊκό Νότο. Είναι ότι συστατικά της ίδιας αυτής μεταπολιτικής λογικής δημιουργούν τους όρους για μια ριζικότερη αλλαγή του πολιτικού σκηνικού στις σύγχρονες δημοκρατίες, πέρα από μια απλή εναλλαγή κυβερνήσεων.
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Με αφορμή τα βιβλία:
Κ. ΡΟΖΑΚΟΥ, Ε. ΓΚΑΡΑ (επιμ.) (2013) Ελληνικά παράδοξα. Πατρωνία, Κοινωνία πολιτών και Βία, Εκδόσεις Αλεξάνδρεια, σελ. 495
Ε. ΠΛΕΞΟΥΣΑΚΗ (επιμ.) (2014) Μεταμορφώσεις του εθνικισμού. Επιτελέσεις της συλλογικής ταυτότητας στην Ελλάδα, Εκδόσεις Αλεξάνδρεια, σελ. 515
E. ΠΑΠΑΤΑΞΙΑΡΧΗΣ (επιμ.) (2014) Πολιτικές της καθημερινότητας. Σύνορο, σώμα και ιδιότητα του πολίτη στην Ελλάδα, Εκδόσεις Αλεξάνδρεια, σελ. 512
Μία από τις κρισιμότερες καμπές στη σύγχρονη πολιτική θεωρία από τη δεκαετία του '60 και μετά επήλθε από ένα ευρύ πλέγμα θεωρητικών ρευμάτων που επιζητούσαν την «αποκέντρωση» του πολιτικού. Από τον φεμινισμό («το προσωπικό είναι πολιτικό»), το έργο του Foucault με την εστίαση στη μικροφυσική των εξουσιών, το εγχείρημα της ντερριντιανής αποδόμησης κάθε συγκεντρωτισμού στη θεωρία και την πράξη, έως την πολιτική φιλοσοφία του Claude Lefort και τον νεο-σμιττιανό στοχασμό της Chantal Mouffe διαφαίνεται μια κοινή προσπάθεια αποδέσμευσης του πολιτικού από τον στενό, σχεδόν αποκλειστικό του εναγκαλισμό με το κράτος, τα πολιτικά του συστήματα και την «υψηλή πολιτική» των κυβερνήσεων και των διεθνών θεσμικών οργάνων. Το πολιτικό ανιχνεύεται γενικότερα σε κάθε συνειδητή διαμόρφωση και αναδιαπραγμάτευση των κοινωνικών σχέσεων, μέσα από ανταγωνισμούς και παιχνίδια εξουσίας, σε όλο το εύρος του κοινωνικού βίου, στις καθημερινές αλληλεπιδράσεις, στην κοινωνία των πολιτών, στις σχέσεις των φύλων και των φυλών, εκτός και πέρα από το κράτος, τους επίσημους θεσμούς και τις μεσο- ή μακρο-δομές (θεσμικές οργανώσεις, εθνική και διεθνής οικονομία κ.ο.κ.).
Η νέα αυτή θεώρηση συντείνει στη διάγνωση μορφών εξουσίας, πολιτικής δράσης και αλλαγής που διαχέονται εκτός του επίσημου πολιτικού συστήματος, αλλά και στη μελέτη των στενών αλληλεξαρτήσεων μεταξύ των ηγεμονικών δομών, των κρατικών πολιτικών και των αναδιαπραγματεύσεων των κυρίαρχων λόγων, σχέσεων και ταυτοτήτων σε ποικίλα πεδία άμεσων διαδράσεων στην κοινωνική καθημερινότητα. Αναδεικνύει επίσης τη δύναμη που κατέχουν κοινωνικά υποκείμενα σε μη κυρίαρχες θέσεις να διαπραγματεύονται και να μετασχηματίζουν κανονιστικά πρότυπα, νόμους, ιεραρχικές σχέσεις, ιδεολογίες και πολιτικές που επικρατούν σε κάθε συγκυρία, ανάλογα ή και σε αντίθεση με τους άνισους πόρους που διαθέτουν.
Contained in book: The Populist Radical Left in Europe by Editor(s):Giorgos Katsambekis, Alexandros Kioupkiolis [Routledge], 2019
This chapter looks into populist social movements and their re-emergence in recent years. Resear... more This chapter looks into populist social movements and their re-emergence in recent years. Research in recent ‘bottom-up’ populism, such as the ‘Arab Spring’ and the Spanish 15M, has been growing over the last years. But the difference that the new populist mobilizations have made to the conventional populism remains underexplored. The chapter deploys the rubric ‘populism 2.0’ to capture this difference and to elucidate its democratic promises by inquiring into egalitarian, progressive mobilizations which could be associated with the left and have been endorsed by leftist populist parties, including Podemos in Spain and Syriza in Greece. ‘Populism 2.0’ is not meant to imply mainly that these movements were Internet-based or suffused with social media. Rather, the argument is that a certain ethos attributed to ‘network society’ or the Web 2.0 – openness, user-generated content, diversity, rejection of hierarchies, transparency, pragmatism, fluidity, reflexivity – is what truly sets them apart both from the typical, top-down populisms and from populist movements of the past. It is this distinct ethos which bears egalitarian and emancipatory potentials.
It is clear that a political paradigm shift is taking place before our very eyes…Occupy Wall Stre... more It is clear that a political paradigm shift is taking place before our very eyes…Occupy Wall Street, which identifies itself as a "leaderless resistance movement with people of many … political persuasions," is politically disobedient precisely in refusing to articulate policy demands or to embrace old ideologies… [I]t resists the structure of partisan politics, the demand for policy reforms, the call for party identification, and the very ideologies that dominated the post-War period.' (Harcourt 2011) Bernard Harcourt's pronouncements on the newness of Occupy politics are very typical in both their account of contemporary democratic militancy and in their implicit proclamation of a certain death: the demise of hegemonic politics in the ordinary (i.e. 'dominant'-'conventional') and the technical ('Gramscian') sense of the term. The political theory and praxis of the last decade or so have issued multiple times the death certificate of hegemony cast as the politics of identity, ideology, totality, the party and the state apparatus, representation and hierarchical, top-down power (Beasley-Murray
European Political Science, 2013
The commons in architecture: a critique of commons-wash and a sketch of an alternative 'common ar... more The commons in architecture: a critique of commons-wash and a sketch of an alternative 'common architecture'
Critical Discourse Studies, 2017
Revisiting the trend of identifying populism with extreme right parties, in this paper we aim to ... more Revisiting the trend of identifying populism with extreme right parties, in this paper we aim to problematize such associations within the context of today's Europe. Drawing on examples from relevant parties in France and the Netherlands, and applying a discourse-theoretical methodology, we test the hypothesis that such parties are better categorized primarily as nationalist and only secondarily – and reluctantly – as 'populist'. Our hypothesis follows the remarks of scholars who have stressed that the central theme in the discourse of such parties is not the staging of an antagonism between a 'people' and an 'elite', but rather the opposition of an ethnic community with its alleged dangerous 'others'. In this context, we propose a discursive methodology able to differentiate between 'populist' and 'nationalist' (xenophobic, racist, etc.) discourses by locating the core signifiers in each discourse in relation to peripheral ones, as well as by clarifying the nature of the axial antagonisms put forth.
The aim of the proceedings had been to bring together a diversity of perspectives on the commons ... more The aim of the proceedings had been to bring together
a diversity of perspectives on the commons
as an alternative from a political slant
and to stimulate reflection and debate.
Here is a list of abstracts of our presentations in our #otheranthropolitics Workshop, Volos 15 -... more Here is a list of abstracts of our presentations in our #otheranthropolitics Workshop, Volos 15 - 16 April, 2019
‘Ηeteropolitics’ (ERC COG 2017 – 2020) is a research project on alternative forms of political se... more ‘Ηeteropolitics’ (ERC COG 2017 – 2020) is a research project on alternative forms of political self-organization at the grassroots and the local level, mainly. It discusses and partly compares processes of alternative politics around participatory democracy and the commons in Spain, Italy and Greece. The aim is to acquire, from different perspectives, a broad and nuanced understanding of messy, contradictory but also promising new modes of civic engagement, institutional participation and administration on the city level, examining the extent to which they can help catalyse wider processes of democratic transformation. The aims and the perspective of the research are not narrowly academic. Our intention is to gather and disseminate knowledge on democratic social transformation, civic politics and initiatives and the commons in the three countries, in the hope of boosting activities of socio-political and economic democratic change in the Mediterranean South and more broadly.
In this context, we are organising an international workshop of the project entitled #otheranthrpolitics to be held in Volos on 15th – 16th of April. The event is co-organized and hosted by the Department of Social Anthropology History and Social Anthropology of the University of Thessaly with the participation of researchers and volunteering and institutional activists.
Organising Committee: Aimilia Voulvouli, Alexandros Kioupkiolis, Penelope Papailias, Petros Petridis, Maria Deligannidou
If you are on Facebook, you can find more information about the workshop at https://www.facebook.com/events/282386455993154/