Civilization : Susan Buck-Morss

I do not like the formulation of the question: What is Civilization? It calls for a definition of the concept, a list of its descriptive determinations. Or, it evokes a well-known critical move: the announcement that civilization is constructed, followed by a genealogy of how, historically, such a construction occurred and whose interests were thereby served. . .

Civilization : Susan Buck-Morss

I do not like the formulation of the question: What is Civilization? It calls for a definition of the concept, a list of its descriptive determinations. Or, it evokes a well-known critical move: the announcement that civilization is constructed, followed by a genealogy of how, historically, such a construction occurred and whose interests were thereby served. . .

Colony : Ann Laura Stoler

Political concepts work upon us for very different reasons and entreat our attention in very different ways. Some impose their authority over our thinking and actions because they saturate our environment, incanted strategically, or wondrously shorn of reflection on the public stage. We might seize on them for scrutiny because they seem to offer the possibility of disrupting the. . .

Colony : Ann Laura Stoler

Political concepts work upon us for very different reasons and entreat our attention in very different ways. Some impose their authority over our thinking and actions because they saturate our environment, incanted strategically, or wondrously shorn of reflection on the public stage. We might seize on them for scrutiny because they seem to offer the possibility of disrupting the. . .

Comedy : Dmitri Nikulin

When we are engaged in a commonly shared and recognized activity that follows certain implicit or explicit rules and pursues particular ends, we do not always notice these rules and ends. Yet, reflecting on them might be important, since it would allow us to better understand the legitimacy and presuppositions of our actions, interactions, and strivings, and . . .

Comedy : Dmitri Nikulin

When we are engaged in a commonly shared and recognized activity that follows certain implicit or explicit rules and pursues particular ends, we do not always notice these rules and ends. Yet, reflecting on them might be important, since it would allow us to better understand the legitimacy and presuppositions of our actions, interactions, and strivings, and . . .

Concept : Étienne Balibar

It is an extremely perilous task to offer a paper among a collection such as this, and especially to have to do it with a tentative definition of the concept of “concept. But it is also a challenge that I take gladly, because it provides me with a unique occasion to return to some philosophical questions that have occupied me throughout my life for reasons many of which have . . .

Concept : Étienne Balibar

It is an extremely perilous task to offer a paper among a collection such as this, and especially to have to do it with a tentative definition of the concept of “concept. But it is also a challenge that I take gladly, because it provides me with a unique occasion to return to some philosophical questions that have occupied me throughout my life for reasons many of which have . . .

Concept : Adi Ophir

Of the many thinkers engaged in conceptual work, only few stop and ask “What is a concept?” This is the question I wish to engage with here. Its form is Socratic, and it is indeed in Socrates’s inquiries that it first appears. “Philosophers have not been sufficiently concerned with the nature of the concept as philosophical reality,” argue Deleuze and Guattari. . .

Concept : Adi Ophir

Of the many thinkers engaged in conceptual work, only few stop and ask “What is a concept?” This is the question I wish to engage with here. Its form is Socratic, and it is indeed in Socrates’s inquiries that it first appears. “Philosophers have not been sufficiently concerned with the nature of the concept as philosophical reality,” argue Deleuze and Guattari. . .

Concept II : Adi Ophir

Concepts are not terms. The distinction between the two should be maintained and its articulation should be part of any attempt to answer the question ‘what is a concept?’ The distinction should be articulated even if one conceives concepts to be terms of a special kind; without it concepts would be reduced to the status of grammatical entities, a class of . . .

Concept II : Adi Ophir

Concepts are not terms. The distinction between the two should be maintained and its articulation should be part of any attempt to answer the question ‘what is a concept?’ The distinction should be articulated even if one conceives concepts to be terms of a special kind; without it concepts would be reduced to the status of grammatical entities, a class of . . .

Conquest : Yves Winter

In 1542, the Spanish Dominican priest Bartolomé de Las Casas published his Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, in which he describes the horrors and atrocities of the conquest of the Americas. Las Casas had arrived in Santo Domingo in 1502 and witnessed the invasion and conquest of the New World. He accompanied the conquistador Diego Velázquez. . .

Conquest : Yves Winter

In 1542, the Spanish Dominican priest Bartolomé de Las Casas published his Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, in which he describes the horrors and atrocities of the conquest of the Americas. Las Casas had arrived in Santo Domingo in 1502 and witnessed the invasion and conquest of the New World. He accompanied the conquistador Diego Velázquez. . .

Consent : James Miller

The verb consent came into English from an Old French verb (consenter) that itself was derived from the Latin verb consentio (to share in feeling), which is part of a family of Latin terms that includes the nouns consensio (agreement, harmony) and consensus (unanimity, concord). The English verb occurs as early as the twelfth century, in the sense of voluntarily acceding . . .

Consent : James Miller

The verb consent came into English from an Old French verb (consenter) that itself was derived from the Latin verb consentio (to share in feeling), which is part of a family of Latin terms that includes the nouns consensio (agreement, harmony) and consensus (unanimity, concord). The English verb occurs as early as the twelfth century, in the sense of voluntarily acceding . . .

Conspiracy : James Martel

Conspiracy is a concept much maligned by political theorists in the western tradition. It is generally regarded as an attempt by a self appointed group of collaborators to illicitly subvert existing forms of politics by secret actions. Many western thinkers are on record for denouncing and defying conspiracies. Cicero is famous for his attacks on and . . .

Conspiracy : James Martel

Conspiracy is a concept much maligned by political theorists in the western tradition. It is generally regarded as an attempt by a self appointed group of collaborators to illicitly subvert existing forms of politics by secret actions. Many western thinkers are on record for denouncing and defying conspiracies. Cicero is famous for his attacks on and . . .

Constituent Power : A. Kalyvas

Constituent power is the truth of modern democracy. For two main reasons, a historical and an analytical one. First, the birth of the modern doctrine of popular sovereignty coincides with the conceptual advent of constituent power. They are co-original and coeval. The political supremacy of the multitude over princes, kings, emperors, and. . .

Constituent Power : A. Kalyvas

Constituent power is the truth of modern democracy. For two main reasons, a historical and an analytical one. First, the birth of the modern doctrine of popular sovereignty coincides with the conceptual advent of constituent power. They are co-original and coeval. The political supremacy of the multitude over princes, kings, emperors, and. . .

Cosmopolitcs : Emily Apter

In 2015 the news network Al-Jazeera removed the term “migrant” from its coverage and proposed in its place “refugee,” to refer to persons in transit, specifically, those fleeing from regions of war, ethnic cleansing, religious persecution, economic and environmental catastrophe. Al-Jazeera’s action recognizes that the lexicology of migration is fraught . . .

Cosmopolitcs : Emily Apter

In 2015 the news network Al-Jazeera removed the term “migrant” from its coverage and proposed in its place “refugee,” to refer to persons in transit, specifically, those fleeing from regions of war, ethnic cleansing, religious persecution, economic and environmental catastrophe. Al-Jazeera’s action recognizes that the lexicology of migration is fraught . . .

Crisis : Janet Roitman

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. mounted the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to deliver a speech entitled “Normalcy, Never Again.” That day, however, Martin Luther King, Jr. deviated from the “Normalcy” text to improvise what is now known as the “I Have A Dream” speech. On January 20, 2009, the day after Luther King’s birthday and once having being. . .

Crisis : Janet Roitman

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. mounted the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to deliver a speech entitled “Normalcy, Never Again.” That day, however, Martin Luther King, Jr. deviated from the “Normalcy” text to improvise what is now known as the “I Have A Dream” speech. On January 20, 2009, the day after Luther King’s birthday and once having being. . .

Demonization : Nathaniel Berman

One of the most powerful tactics in current political debates is to accuse one’s opponent of “demonizing” the target of his or her critique. The charge almost always forces the other on the defensive – ranging from the petulant (“I wasn’t demonizing, I was just making specific criticisms”) to the childish (“I’m the one who’s demonizing?! You’re the one who’s . . .

Demonization : Nathaniel Berman

One of the most powerful tactics in current political debates is to accuse one’s opponent of “demonizing” the target of his or her critique. The charge almost always forces the other on the defensive – ranging from the petulant (“I wasn’t demonizing, I was just making specific criticisms”) to the childish (“I’m the one who’s demonizing?! You’re the one who’s . . .

Development : Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak

A gradual unfolding, a bringing into fuller view; a fuller disclosure or working out of the details of anything, as a plan, a scheme, the plot of a novel. Also quasi-concr. that in which the fuller unfolding is embodied or realized. The economic advancement of a region or people, esp. one currently under-developed. This consideration leads us to what is. . .

Development : Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak

A gradual unfolding, a bringing into fuller view; a fuller disclosure or working out of the details of anything, as a plan, a scheme, the plot of a novel. Also quasi-concr. that in which the fuller unfolding is embodied or realized. The economic advancement of a region or people, esp. one currently under-developed. This consideration leads us to what is. . .

Disappearance : Joan Cocks

Niccolò Machiavelli once quipped that “men are much more interested in present things than in those that are past,” a remark matched in its insouciance towards the “once was” by Leon Trotsky’s declaration that “the first secret of the dialectic . . . [is] that there is nothing unchanging on this earth, and that society is made out of plastic materials.” Both men are partly right. . .

Disappearance : Joan Cocks

Niccolò Machiavelli once quipped that “men are much more interested in present things than in those that are past,” a remark matched in its insouciance towards the “once was” by Leon Trotsky’s declaration that “the first secret of the dialectic . . . [is] that there is nothing unchanging on this earth, and that society is made out of plastic materials.” Both men are partly right. . .