class notes

This week: Critique - role of theory, critique since 9/11

Political mobilization around not thinking; rhetorical effort to dumb down -> language of common sense, ordinary (such as a political campaign); role of the intellectual getting slammed/positioned

Latour 246.

?Critic - one who assembles?

Foucault. Kant.

Kant: Mobilizing knowledge.

Aufklarung -> often translated as critique, but it's about pursuing clarity. Has to do with power and role of the subject via authority.

Pursuing the limits of knowledge as the basis of mobilization. Knowledge is not just knowledge and you will be mobilized, but understanding the limits of knowledge is key to mobilization. "Do you know up to what you can know?" Primary responsibility is to know knowledge.

Difficult writing. Jargon. "Discourse speak." [Hartunian - professionalization of theory. Professionalization of graduate students. Something hard that we can do. VS Hardest issues need hard language. Mitchell - transmission.]

Assumed connection with leftism.

Taking responsibility for what it is that you say.

Foucault: not being governed, not only by aristocracy, but by something like modern state apparatus. Operations of the state exist partially for public protection, but also for maintaining order. [Libertarian move?] Foucault is often seen as an outsider to the left. Distributed state elements (social welfare) turn into distributed maintenance of normative structures.


Chomsky: critique of premises of knowledge, unfeeling/distanced, dissent as critique, activist writer who isn't using difficult writing

[Chomsky: critique as cognitive models?]

[is the 'end of critique' actually playing into conservative power?][academic money?]