Terry Dawson - Independent Researcher (original) (raw)

Drafts by Terry Dawson

Research paper thumbnail of Democracy and dissimulation; from Machiavelli to Claude Lefort

In this paper, starting from Claude Lefort's analysis of Machiavelli's new political ontology, br... more In this paper, starting from Claude Lefort's analysis of Machiavelli's new political ontology, breaking with that of the ancients, I critically examine how Lefort, employing the concepts of the real, the imaginary and the symbolic, applies these to the analysis of democracy.

Research paper thumbnail of Phenomenology and primitive society in the writings of Claude Lefort

Research paper thumbnail of Racism and the State; the politics of race and immigration in post war Britain

This article, based upon Gramsci's theory of the modern State, examines the specific character of... more This article, based upon Gramsci's theory of the modern State, examines the specific character of racism as a form of social subordination in liberal democracy and the complex interaction between the racism of civil society and that of the State. Following in detail the historical development of racism in post-war British politics it attempts to show how within the hegemonic order it was possible for a form of internal colonialism to become established.

Research paper thumbnail of Race and Immigration in Post-War Britain

Terry Dawson vii themselves as champions of 'multiracialism' both at home and abroad. It will be ... more Terry Dawson vii themselves as champions of 'multiracialism' both at home and abroad. It will be argued here that the sudden arrival of an uninvited and unwelcome black and coloured immigrant population in these circumstances determined the unique trajectory of state racism in Britain in a form that would place severe strains upon the hegemonic order.

Research paper thumbnail of The concept of proletarianization in the thought of Marx and Stiegler

This article examines first the meaning of the terms 'proletariat' and 'proletarianization' in Ma... more This article examines first the meaning of the terms 'proletariat' and 'proletarianization' in Marx's thought, then moves to the extension of the concept of 'proletarianization in Stiegler, via Simondon, as the dispossession of knowledge, situated within a social ontology centred upon disindividuation and the degradation of work in modern society.

Research paper thumbnail of The Lacanian Subject and the Cartesian Cogito

Research paper thumbnail of From Hegel's rabble to Marx's proletariat

This article examines the readings of Hegel's concept of the rabble developed by Slavoj Zizek and... more This article examines the readings of Hegel's concept of the rabble developed by Slavoj Zizek and Frank Ruda, centred upon the concept of indignation, in relation to the political theory of Alain Badiou and to Marx's concept of the proletariat.

Research paper thumbnail of Baudelaire and the Crowd: poetic form and the modern urban experience

In Le Peintre de la Vie Moderne, Baudelaire draws attention to Poe's short story, 'The Man of the... more In Le Peintre de la Vie Moderne, Baudelaire draws attention to Poe's short story, 'The Man of the Crowd', in which a convalescent, sitting in the window of a London coffee house, becomes absorbed in the movement of the crowd outside and, after observing the various urban types and 'tribes' to be seen there, becomes fascinated by one particular individual, and is drawn to follow him back and forth through the bustling streets of the city. This sinister and elusive figure, the narrator concludes at the end of the tale, is 'the type and genius of deep crime. He refuses to be alone. He is the man of the crowd. It will be in vain to follow; for I shall learn no more of him, nor of his deeds.' 1 The artist Constantin Guys, the eponymous 'painter of modern life,' was, Baudelaire tells us, a 'Grand amoureux de la foule et de l'incognito' (great lover of the crowd and of the incognito), and, similarly, 'toujours, spirituellement, à l'état du convalescent,' (always, spiritually, in a state of convalescence) 2 seeing everything with the freshness and intensity of a child. The crowd is his domain: his passion is d'épouser la foule (to be wedded to the crowd). Guys, as the model of the modern artist, is not, Baudelaire tells us, to be mistaken for a dandy, since the dandy is blasé whereas Guys is dominated by an insatiable passion for seeing and feeling that draws him to the crowd. Not a dandy, then, but a flâneur: Pour le parfait flâneur, pour l'observateur passionné, c'est une immense jouissance que d'élire domicile dans le nombre, dans l'ondoyant, dans le mouvement, dans le fugitif et l'infini. Être hors de chez soi, et pourtant se sentir partout chez soi; voir le monde, être au centre du monde et rester caché au monde, tels sont quelques-uns des moindres plaisirs de ces esprits indépendants, passionnés, impartaux, que la langue ne peut que maladroitement définir. L'observateur est un prince qui jouit partout de son incognito. (OC II, 691-2) (For the perfect flâneur, for the passionate spectator, it is an immense joy to set up house in the heart of the multitude, amid the ebb and flow of movement, in the midst of the fugitive and infinite. To be away from home and yet to feel oneself everywhere at home; to see the world, to be at the centre of the world, and yet to remain hidden from the world – such are a few of the slightest pleasures of those independent, passionate, impartial natures which the tongue can but clumsily define. The spectator is a prince who everywhere rejoices in his incognito.)

Papers by Terry Dawson

Research paper thumbnail of The Lacanian Subject and the Cartesian Cogito

In this paper I examine the changing formulations of the Cartesian cogito as the foundation of th... more In this paper I examine the changing formulations of the Cartesian cogito as the foundation of the Lacanian theory of the subject.

Research paper thumbnail of Democracy and dissimulation; from Machiavelli to Claude Lefort

In this paper, starting from Claude Lefort's analysis of Machiavelli's new political ontology, br... more In this paper, starting from Claude Lefort's analysis of Machiavelli's new political ontology, breaking with that of the ancients, I critically examine how Lefort, employing the concepts of the real, the imaginary and the symbolic, applies these to the analysis of democracy.

Research paper thumbnail of Phenomenology and primitive society in the writings of Claude Lefort

Research paper thumbnail of Racism and the State; the politics of race and immigration in post war Britain

This article, based upon Gramsci's theory of the modern State, examines the specific character of... more This article, based upon Gramsci's theory of the modern State, examines the specific character of racism as a form of social subordination in liberal democracy and the complex interaction between the racism of civil society and that of the State. Following in detail the historical development of racism in post-war British politics it attempts to show how within the hegemonic order it was possible for a form of internal colonialism to become established.

Research paper thumbnail of Race and Immigration in Post-War Britain

Terry Dawson vii themselves as champions of 'multiracialism' both at home and abroad. It will be ... more Terry Dawson vii themselves as champions of 'multiracialism' both at home and abroad. It will be argued here that the sudden arrival of an uninvited and unwelcome black and coloured immigrant population in these circumstances determined the unique trajectory of state racism in Britain in a form that would place severe strains upon the hegemonic order.

Research paper thumbnail of The concept of proletarianization in the thought of Marx and Stiegler

This article examines first the meaning of the terms 'proletariat' and 'proletarianization' in Ma... more This article examines first the meaning of the terms 'proletariat' and 'proletarianization' in Marx's thought, then moves to the extension of the concept of 'proletarianization in Stiegler, via Simondon, as the dispossession of knowledge, situated within a social ontology centred upon disindividuation and the degradation of work in modern society.

Research paper thumbnail of The Lacanian Subject and the Cartesian Cogito

Research paper thumbnail of From Hegel's rabble to Marx's proletariat

This article examines the readings of Hegel's concept of the rabble developed by Slavoj Zizek and... more This article examines the readings of Hegel's concept of the rabble developed by Slavoj Zizek and Frank Ruda, centred upon the concept of indignation, in relation to the political theory of Alain Badiou and to Marx's concept of the proletariat.

Research paper thumbnail of Baudelaire and the Crowd: poetic form and the modern urban experience

In Le Peintre de la Vie Moderne, Baudelaire draws attention to Poe's short story, 'The Man of the... more In Le Peintre de la Vie Moderne, Baudelaire draws attention to Poe's short story, 'The Man of the Crowd', in which a convalescent, sitting in the window of a London coffee house, becomes absorbed in the movement of the crowd outside and, after observing the various urban types and 'tribes' to be seen there, becomes fascinated by one particular individual, and is drawn to follow him back and forth through the bustling streets of the city. This sinister and elusive figure, the narrator concludes at the end of the tale, is 'the type and genius of deep crime. He refuses to be alone. He is the man of the crowd. It will be in vain to follow; for I shall learn no more of him, nor of his deeds.' 1 The artist Constantin Guys, the eponymous 'painter of modern life,' was, Baudelaire tells us, a 'Grand amoureux de la foule et de l'incognito' (great lover of the crowd and of the incognito), and, similarly, 'toujours, spirituellement, à l'état du convalescent,' (always, spiritually, in a state of convalescence) 2 seeing everything with the freshness and intensity of a child. The crowd is his domain: his passion is d'épouser la foule (to be wedded to the crowd). Guys, as the model of the modern artist, is not, Baudelaire tells us, to be mistaken for a dandy, since the dandy is blasé whereas Guys is dominated by an insatiable passion for seeing and feeling that draws him to the crowd. Not a dandy, then, but a flâneur: Pour le parfait flâneur, pour l'observateur passionné, c'est une immense jouissance que d'élire domicile dans le nombre, dans l'ondoyant, dans le mouvement, dans le fugitif et l'infini. Être hors de chez soi, et pourtant se sentir partout chez soi; voir le monde, être au centre du monde et rester caché au monde, tels sont quelques-uns des moindres plaisirs de ces esprits indépendants, passionnés, impartaux, que la langue ne peut que maladroitement définir. L'observateur est un prince qui jouit partout de son incognito. (OC II, 691-2) (For the perfect flâneur, for the passionate spectator, it is an immense joy to set up house in the heart of the multitude, amid the ebb and flow of movement, in the midst of the fugitive and infinite. To be away from home and yet to feel oneself everywhere at home; to see the world, to be at the centre of the world, and yet to remain hidden from the world – such are a few of the slightest pleasures of those independent, passionate, impartial natures which the tongue can but clumsily define. The spectator is a prince who everywhere rejoices in his incognito.)

Research paper thumbnail of The Lacanian Subject and the Cartesian Cogito

In this paper I examine the changing formulations of the Cartesian cogito as the foundation of th... more In this paper I examine the changing formulations of the Cartesian cogito as the foundation of the Lacanian theory of the subject.