Counter-theses on Walter Benjamin, the messianic tradition, and its apostate descendants

From Scenes from the Atlanta Forest

We would have preferred to stay out of the recent Internet bickering, but we saw that Walter Benjamin’s name got dragged into the mix, so we decided to say something. “Ten Theses on Anti-(((Tiqqunism)))” is a disingenuous defense of an ideological tendency that the authors stridently insist does not exist. It finally commits to print a strategy of deflection long practiced by a North American milieu which denies its existence in the face of the countless comrades who know it all too well. If the term “Tiqqunism” is objectionable, let’s speak instead of lineage. The authors of “Ten Theses” acknowledge that the Tiqqun journal, The Coming Insurrection, and The Call (L’appel) came out of a specific milieu in France which considered Benjamin a “major reference.” We all know that there is a North American communist milieu which, in turn, has historically looked to the French milieu as its major reference. It’s unfortunate that neither group heeded the advice in The Coming Insurrection: “Beware of all existing social milieus, and above all, don’t become one.” Others have already and no doubt will continue to critique the authoritarian and counter-revolutionary political positions that people from the American milieu (i.e. Inhabit, Ill Will Editions, the Vitalist International, the theoretical wing of Woodbine, etc.) have publicly and privately taken. Our concern here is with the legacy of the Benjaminian and messianic tradition, within which we situate ourselves directly and without mediation. We write this to our strange and woefully misguided cousins, for as Giorgio Agamben (whose students included several editors of Tiqqun) noted in Stasis, one of the defining characteristics of civil war is that “the factional bond moves into the household to the same extent to which the family bond is estranged in the faction” (15). All those who invoke Benjamin as an ancestor must be prepared to give a full citation of their actions on the day of the Last Judgment.

1. ” In every epoch, the attempt must be made to deliver tradition anew from the conformism which is on the point of overwhelming it. For the Messiah arrives not merely as the Redeemer; he also arrives as the vanquisher of the Anti-Christ.” (VI)

The authors of “Ten Theses” point out a seeming contradiction in the position that they attribute to their critics: “Every struggle that emerges, from the George Floyd Uprising to mass ecological struggles taking place in France, to the struggle against Cop City, is simultaneously the result of an organic upwelling of resistance in which no organized force could or should play a decisive role, and in danger of being coopted by these so-called ‘Tiqqunists.’”

From a magical and animist perspective, it is indeed important to avoid giving more power to people or thought-forms than they actually have. We remind our friends of this point too. The American milieu descended from L’appel (call them what you will) does not in reality constitute an invisible vanguard with any appreciable power, but the problem lies precisely in the fact that many of them have grandiose delusions of becoming one. One can critique would-be vanguards without overinflating their influence and certainly without being structurally antisemitic. If the authors of “Ten Theses” are in fact “some anarchists,” we would expect that they do not disagree with these two assertions and are willing to critique their own friends when they see vanguardist aspirations arise.

The anarchist tradition struggles in every epoch with its own tendencies towards conformism, too. With some exceptions, however, many of the Americans who draw inspiration from L’appel consider themselves to have actively split from the anarchist tradition, which they consider to be too “subcultural” (read: too queer, too Black, too ethical). They publicly use anti-anarchist rhetoric (“the police are the real anarchists”) and privately delight in this (“the anarchists don’t like us very much”). Nonetheless, in reality, they merely reinvent the wheel in their little corner of the anarchist galaxy when it comes to infrastructural projects such as the social center or the land project. More importantly, they inevitably rely upon the participation of anarchists, and the widespread use of our methods, in any social struggle in which they take part, such as Stop Cop City. Without those in the forest and those attacking from coast to coast, there’d be nothing to manage (sorry, compose!) Their fetishization of “opacity” and “a low barrier to entry” (a dogwhistle apologism for the mainstream American class, race, and gender dynamics reproduced in their milieu) is in fact an abject capitulation to conformism.

Maurice Blanchot critiqued earlier practitioners of this entirely unoriginal strategy in The Unavowable Community in 1983:

“Hence the ambiguity of the committees that multiplied, pretending to organize disorganization while respecting the latter, and that were not supposed to distinguish themselves from the “anonymous and innumerable crowd, from the people spontaneously demonstrating.” Thus the actionless action-committee’s difficulty of being, or that of the circle of friends who disavowed their previous friendship in order to call upon friendship (camaraderie without preliminaries) vehiculated by the requirement of being there, not as a person or subject, but as the demonstrators of a movement fraternally anonymous and impersonal.”

“Friends who disavowed their previous friendship in order to call upon friendship,” indeed.

2. “The conformism which has dwelt within social democracy from the very beginning rests not merely on its political tactics, but also on its economic conceptions. It is a fundamental cause of the later collapse. There is nothing which has corrupted the German working-class so much as the opinion that they were swimming with the tide.” (XI)

From Woodbine tweeting about Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez coming to their food pantry on October 28, 2020 and hosting a socialist State Senate candidate on April 5, 2022 to Hugh Farrell gushing about how the strategy of composition “allows lawsuits to coexist with regular clashes with police at the edge of the forest,” many of the American would-be-Sabbateans are in such a rush to apostasize themselves in the name of “opacity” and “composition” that they have pre-emptively bypassed the messianic tradition in favor of immediately jumping into secular politics and participation (however cynical) within social democracy. While they are not historical determinists in the same way that the vulgar Marxists whom Benjamin critiqued are, their voluntarist fixation on “building power” ends up taking on a linear and progressivist dimension of its own. They have lost sight of the view of time in which “every second was the narrow gate, through which the Messiah could enter.” (B) Theirs is the position of despair in the face of defeat, masked as “the opinion that they were swimming with the tide” of history. By contrast, “the historical materialist thus moves as far away from this as measurably possible. He regards it as his task to brush history against the grain.” (VII)

3. “The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the ’emergency situation’ in which we live is the rule. We must arrive at a concept of history which corresponds to this. Then it will become clear that the task before us is the introduction of a real state of emergency; and our position in the struggle against Fascism will thereby improve.” (VIII)

From the New York L’appel-fanboys glorifying the Nazi-infested Maidan putsch and publishing a text entitled “Nomos of the Earth” (named after the book of the same title by Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt), to the Vitalist International and Ill Will Editions defending the former’s use of the Gadsden flag while calling for de-escalation mere hours after Michael Reinhoehl shot a Patriot Prayer fascist, to the Northwest milieu taking an avowedly neutral position on confronting the esoteric Hitlerism of Sadie and Exile and the communist cadre Ultra “learning from” and training with Jack Donovan of Wolves of Vinland, members of the American lineage of L’appel have failed to introduce a real state of emergency while flirting with third positionism and “unholy alliances” with fascists. This makes the accusation of antisemitism towards any critique of their tendency all the more disigenuous and manipulative, unless the authors are actually confronting these reactionary positions within themselves and among their friends. It is not the American appeliste milieu’s theoretical Jewishness which bothers us, but its evidenced and undeniable Whiteness. Hopefully it bothers you too.

Insofar as the editors of Tiqqun included students of Agamben, they and their ideological descendants have inherited Agamben’s deeply unfortunate misreading of Benjamin as being in some sort of archetypal “unholy alliance” with Carl Schmitt. Alexander Ghedi Weheliye critiques Agamben’s mistranslation and appropriation of Benjamin in Habeas Viscus. This forced reading glosses over the violence of “colonialism, racial slavery, [and] indigenous genocide” because they are part of the “normal legal order” under white supremacy:

“The problem lies not so much in Agamben’s linking of Schmitt’s and Benjamin’s ideas, but rather in the alacrity with which he postulates direct historical connections between these two thinkers. These philological canards become indicative of Agamben’s overall appropriation of Benjamin, which has at its goal the annexing — by any means necessary — of Benjamin into the mainstream at the cost of disregarding Benjamin’s liminal status in Germany during his lifetime; it also downplays both the Marxist elements, as fractured as they may have been, and those aspects regarding the revolutionary potentiality of the oppressed in Benjamin’s philosophy. As a result, the homo sacer’s social death appears as the only feature of his or her subjectivity. Taking in other instantiations of mere life such as colonialism, racial slavery, or indigenous genocide opens up a sociopolitical sphere in which different modalities of life and death, power and oppression, pain and pleasure, inclusion and exclusion form a continuum that embody the hidden and not-so-veiled matrices of contemporary sovereignty.”

While Agamben’s shortcoming is theoretical, American appelistes have applied it in far worse directions in practice.

4. “[Social democracy] contented itself with assigning the working-class the role of the savior of future generations. It thereby severed the sinews of its greatest power. Through this schooling the class forgot its hate as much as its spirit of sacrifice. For both nourish themselves on the picture of enslaved forebears, not on the ideal of the emancipated heirs.” (XII)

The authors of “Ten Theses” claim that “There is no debate between ‘insurrectionalism’ and ‘Tiqqunism.’ There are only those who seek to make the truth of the global uprisings the new common sense.” The “new common sense” is what Benjamin scornfully called “the ideal of the emancipated heirs.” By contrast, the insurrectionary anarchist concept of “affinity” comes from Latin affinitas, signifying non-biological kinship. Wherever anarchists seem to share revolutionary ancestors in common with someone else, we must examine the similarities and differences in how we actually embody and transmit those lineages. If there is a genuine shared commitment to liberation and autonomy, affinity is possible, but that affinity can only be grown through shared experience in struggle. However, if there proves to be no basis for trust due to ongoing patterns of authoritarian and manipulative behavior, we will not forget Benjamin’s words about not forgetting hate. We reject an empty and homogeneous unity in the name of “the new common sense.” As we’ve seen, this deliberately vague phrase can and has been interpreted to include both social democrats and fascists in its composition.

We agree with the authors of “Ten Theses” that “it is the height of hubris for anyone to believe that they, and they alone, have unlocked the true key to liberation.” We invite them to look into the Mirror themselves and especially to hold it up to those they consider to be their friends. We’ve looked at ourselves in that Mirror, confronted our own reflections (distorted and otherwise), and affirmed what we have seen. Following Benjamin’s friends in Acéphale, we “assume the function of destruction and decomposition, but as fulfillment and not as negation of being” and “fight to decompose and exclude all communities – whether the national, socialist, communist, or churchly – other than [the] universal community.” As another comrade once said, “the destituent urge is also a destructive urge.” We will see you in the here-and-now, in the tiger’s leap into the open sky of history, in the blow of the tiger’s claw that rips and does not make distinctions.

We only needed four.

-some other anarchists

There are 41 Comments

Hey, just found a new approach for anwering to the usual commie shitposting!

"We accept you Appelistas as our overlords in all the US & Canadian anarcho milieus and anything that remotely resembles, and beyond. You are the revolutionary elite we need in these times, so please take decisions and do everything for us. Especially all the dangerous insurgency. Now shut up and stop bothering people around, thanks!"

Cringey to try and own tiqqunists by being more tiqqunist than them.

SIGH i'm still here for this, not because I think anything interesting will come out of it but because large claims still bear the burden of proof, which never gets met to a reasonable minimum standard.. this particular piece sneaks it in early and no ... i'm not stupid enough to miss it although it's a much higher quality of rationalizing than the original hyenas dogshit was.

the first part is a unapologetic appeal to paranoid reactionary emotion -

"a strategy of deflection long practiced by a North American milieu which denies its existence in the face of the countless comrades who know it all too well."

yeah ... you all keep saying these things, we know. doesn't make them true or useful.

then we move on to the real maneuver, which appears to be just garden variety moving of the goal posts?

"The American milieu descended from L’appel (call them what you will) does not in reality constitute an invisible vanguard with any appreciable power, but the problem lies precisely in the fact that many of them have grandiose delusions of becoming one. One can critique would-be vanguards without overinflating their influence and certainly without being structurally antisemitic."

Right ... so here, the writer just conceded the only point that matters much ... that this phenomena of tiqqunism in north america, isn't in fact, a significant block of power, it's just a loose set of ideas that COULD become a threat maybe. That's if these otherwise powerless but scheming commies with shitty attitudes were to ... do everything differently than they have so far and somehow become influential and then do a red fascism or whatever the hypothetical scenario is supposed to be here ... oh! and they definitely aren't YOU KNOW WHO (the jews) unless you're down for that? there's a backroom discussion if you are but nevermind if you aren't.

Scheming authoritarians of various persuasions, exist in literally every context, with 10,000 different combinations of ideologies.

Look at how much this attempt at a through-line zigs and zags all over the galaxy!

"From the New York L’appel-fanboys glorifying the Nazi-infested Maidan putsch and publishing a text entitled “Nomos of the Earth” (named after the book of the same title by Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt), to the Vitalist International and Ill Will Editions defending the former’s use of the Gadsden flag while calling for de-escalation mere hours after Michael Reinhoehl shot a Patriot Prayer fascist, to the Northwest milieu taking an avowedly neutral position on confronting the esoteric Hitlerism of Sadie and Exile and the communist cadre Ultra “learning from” and training with Jack Donovan of Wolves of Vinland, members of the American lineage of L’appel have failed to introduce a real state of emergency while flirting with third positionism and “unholy alliances” with fascists."

Then they go on to say "this is why calling this theory anti-semitic is disingenuous" ... that only shows they missed the point. it was never a literal accusation, only a concerning pattern of paranoia.

This is all so thin ... at this point, this writer has conceded everything except that people who read french stuff and aren't sincerely anti-authoritarian might get power eventually and that would suck and i'm supposed to be impressed and concerned by this theory with no real content? i'm supposed to use this label along with the rest of you credulous jackasses and pretend like we're all saying something insightful? you'll wait for that day until the fukin stars burn out.

we're anarchists. we already have all the reasons we'll ever need to hate authoritarianism but i get a powerful whiff of psyop here. the only function any of this dogshit serves on this side of the pond, is to keep trying to stir up fear, uncertainty and doubt in movements that would otherwise be intrinsically anti-capitalist. many aspiring vanguards will arise and the pushy commies aren't likely to be the worst of them by half.

Yeah I agree entirely. Its kind of impressive how vapid this whole discourse even is. "The big scary tiqqunism is infiltrating anarchism and making it authoritarian oh no". Wish people would spend the time they spent complaining about "commies infiltrating anarchism" or other such bullshit lighting a cop car on fire or shooting substations at a coal plant or something. Its time for people to stop whining about these illusory inter milieu internet clique spats and get their shit together. So sick of this shit.

ha! well you and me both

whatever i might think ppl should be doing with their time instead, it's definitely not beating this dead french commie horse. it wasn't much of a horse to begin with, betrayed his horse comrades across the pond but then he tried to swim across the atlantic ocean and drowned and the beach smells terrible

well, some anarchist lady, unless you're suggesting that everyone lone wolf every single action, it's important to figure out who among your/my/our scene will have your back when people start getting popped.

for example, brandon darby used to talk just like you when he was setting people up for the fbi or whatever cop group he was talking to.

but by all means, you do you with your lone self.

signed,
a different anarchist lady

How the hell are you going to claim "it was never a literal accusation [of antisemitism], only a concerning pattern of paranoia" when you literally scare-quote in your previous paragraph "oh! and they definitely aren't YOU KNOW WHO (the jews) unless you're down for that? there's a backroom discussion if you are but nevermind if you aren't." These are mutually exclusive takes, either the critique you're making is structural or you are actively accusing people of antisemitism. But instead you parade this motte-and-bailey, presumably because you have no actual evidence of the claims you want to make.

I'll also point out that the critiques here don't strike me as theory. There are real consequences to shit like hosting zeitgeist politicians and promoting political parties, consequences that anarchists have every reason to be concerned about.

because it's funny and i do as i please?

oh! also, if you squint, i'm maybe pointing out WHY this shit is irresponsible because a literal fascist can stumble in to a discussion and be all like - THIS PERSON GETS IT cuz yeah. "THEM". THE "THEM". RIGHT?

you want dogs? cuz that's how you get dogs. put the whistle down if you don't want dogs

A dogwhistle is an intentional communication of something that is not visible to the general reader. I say this not because I think you don't know this, but because I want to be unambiguous about what you are saying: you are claiming that the authors of this piece are secretly antisemitic, and are intentionally communicating with an antisemetic cabal, while simultaneously admitting you have zero evidence of this claim. Do I have that right?

no. i'm suggesting that anyone who's spent time analyzing the online conspiracy theory ecosystem, becomes all-too-familiar with certain patterns of inferences to shadowy influencial groups of [blank], especially if it has ANYTHING to do with ANY of the topics or marginalized identities now associated with the "cultural marxism, cultural bolshevism" lore.

if you're out in the wild, waving around one of these conspiracies and you don't understand how it's all part of the same legacy of reactionary myth making, you're dangerously unaware of history and all the contemporary analysis about how online pipelines of radicalization work... at best. that's the best case scenario and i think it applies here, rather than a self-aware dog whistle user.

this is so weak. Benjamin was a literary critic and held pretty banal political positions, especially his marxism was laughable. giving the 10,000th reading of the theses on history is so cliche and boring.
the authors are clearly just stewing in ressentiment and brought in a less than average reading of a played out text to support that ressentiment. weak

also the authors seem to fail to explain that while they critique woodbine for reading schmitt, Benjamin ardently admired Schmitt. This is not a favulation, anyone can google search benjamins letter to schmitt and read it themselves

I’ve read the Wehiliye book, which does a pretty good job of demonstrating that Agamben basically mistranslated specific shit to build the academic consensus that Benjamin was into Schmitt based on *one* professional letter, while ignoring the actual historical relationship between them: Schmitt as crown Jurist of the Nazi regime, and Benjamin dying trying to flee it. Unclear how sinister it is on Agamben’s part, but Benjamin’s admiration is often used to justify Schmitt’s ideas, which are pretty inseparable. The piece references in this article, for example, is all about how the Nazis needed to expand their control over territory by exerting spheres of influence. Dude even clarifies that spheres of influences ~require~ racial homogeneity to function. Weird shit to name your magazine after

Sure, I read it also, it's fine but ultimately not really that damning of a takedown of Agamben. It's the usual afro-pessimist kind of crock, which is rhetorically convincing but has pretty disastrous political consequences
I mean, it's clear that Benjamin was indeed influenced by Schmitt. Even Lukacs was, begrudgingly. What you say about Schmitt being a nazi and Benjamin dying fleeing from the Nazis doesn't detract from that one single bit. It's irrelevant to the fact that Benjamin was influenced by Schmitt
People love to oversimplify and have reductive readings and wash their hands and feel good about themselves.
It's also clear that the authors of this piece don't really understand Benjamin's larger body of work. They just cite this essay which everyone and their mom has read like 40,000 times and show no engagement with any of his other ideas. It's not an original reading They also just list a bunch of citations from books and pair it with some cringey slander and expect that to demonstrate their point. they hardly write anything original at all.

For the numbers of comments that get removed due to the (valid?) accusations thrown at some Tiqqunist groups Thecollective knows personally, it'd be so nice of you to recognize how you're just benefiting from the mods moving the goalposts in your favor, just sayin!

no i'm just pointing out a very easily recognizable inconsistency in the author's argument. they claim that reading schmitt or taking influence from him means your a fascist. so by this logic Benjamin is also a fascist. Is that true or not true?

Also this article is beyond dumb, the–– "oh wow I read a book from a black studies guy that critiques Agamben and that proves that these people are fascist third positionists"

What does this kind of bullshit bickering even do? it's so fucking tiresome and just an online jerk off contest

“Esteemed Professor Schmitt,

You will receive any day now from the publishers my book The Origin of the German Mourning Play. With these lines I would like not merely to announce its arrival, but also express my joy at being able to send it to you, at the suggestion of Mr. Albert Salomon. You will very quickly recognize how much my book is indebted to you for its presentation of the doctrine of sovereignty in the 17th century. Perhaps I may also say, in addition, that I have also derived from your later works, especially “Dictatorship”, a confirmation of my modes of research in the philosophy of art from yours in the philosophy of the state.

With my expression of special admiration
Your very humble
Walter Benjamin” (GS 1: 3.887)

Yes, correct. The difference between commie fucks and fascists absolutely is aesthetic. Both would stop at nothing to win. Lines will be crossed. At least the fascists openly embrace Christianity, because commie fucks and anarcho-lefties are every bit as righteous

They didn’t just read the dude, they named their newspaper after him. I picked it up at a bookfair once, and it doesn’t give any explanation for why it’s called that. And it’s newsprint so assuming they printed thousands…

maybe you should read the book by schmitt and find out what it says rather than basing your opinions on some dumb cringey internet post like this article

you're misattributing cause and effect. must work well for you in online interactions.

“to the Northwest milieu taking an avowedly neutral position on confronting the esoteric Hitlerism of Sadie and Exile”

This never happened.

yeah flimsy accusations abound in this series of diatribes, and this line about sadie and exile is an outright lie

I dunno about that Sadie, but Exile was exposed for his fash sympathies... it got to this site when the news came up.

Oh I'm not disputing that those two idiots are nazis, the part that's not true is "the Northwest milieu taking an avowedly neutral position".

Additionally, there's people legit defending against baseless accusations, and there's people who're Neonazis here just denying they are, while at the same time posting hate speech. At the end of the day only the evidence matters, as claims and counter-claims are just air.

> *erases evidence down the memory hole*

Then...

> "Evidence is impossible."

Makes sense!

rampant intellectualism, pedantry, and bickering like children inventing a new game. this is why i don't identify as an anarchist.

I don't mean to blow your mind, Alex, buuuuUuuuut: none of the people within this milieu are actually anarchists.

yeah, that's beginning to dawn on me... i've always been a slow learner.

Or maybe they're all authentic anarchists and anarchism jusst sucks. No, nevermind. That's blasphemous, apologies!

Wiot tyh fuikuingh hrell isd akll yis fyuxkiong iontoilexctyuoll wiokre buiklshuit !?
;? Shuit yrer fiovcklinhg cvommiue moiutghs!,,!

[This text was submitted as an article by Anonymous, but we are sharing as a comment here on this post - ANews]

In a world rife with injustice, dissent, and a cacophony of ideologies, the Tiqqunist perspective emerges as a clarion call for a thorough reevaluation of our understanding of power dynamics, resistance, and societal transformation. Yet, as with any radical paradigm, the North American Tiqqunist milieu finds itself at the receiving end of criticism that, while well-intentioned, tends to overlook the essence and the underlying potential of this movement. In this polemical response, we intend to ardently challenge the critiques by shedding light on the multifaceted dimensions of Tiqqunism that render it a vital and dynamic force in contemporary discourse.

The first contention arises from the complexity and inaccessibility of Tiqqunist texts. Critics label these writings as obscure and academic, serving only to alienate those beyond ivory tower gates. Yet, let us not forget that challenging the hegemonic discourse necessitates a complex vocabulary, as we navigate through the labyrinth of conventional thought. Tiqqunism thrives on intellectual rigor, aiming to spur critical engagement rather than passive consumption. It demands that we rise above superficial discussions and confront the intricacies of the systems that govern our lives.

Tiqqunism's detractors lament its apparent detachment from everyday struggles and practical activism. However, this critique disregards the movement's vital role as a conceptual bedrock. Tiqqunists argue that meaningful change requires a profound understanding of the structures perpetuating oppression. Practical action guided by deep-rooted analysis gains potency and effectiveness. Thus, Tiqqunism and grassroots activism are not mutually exclusive but rather interconnected elements of a comprehensive strategy for societal change.

The critique of the lack of concrete solutions fails to recognize Tiqqunism's commitment to systemic transformation. Quick fixes do not dismantle the roots of inequality; they merely prune the branches. Tiqqunism challenges us to question the very foundations of our society, forging new paradigms that nurture true change over time. In this light, the movement's emphasis on critique serves as a springboard for innovative solutions that address the root causes of our most pressing issues.

The charge of elitism is hurled at Tiqqunism due to its complex language, a charge unwarranted when we consider its intent. Tiqqunists are not gatekeepers of knowledge but torchbearers of critical thought. The challenging vocabulary is a call to arms, beckoning individuals to engage with the ideas presented and to embark on a journey of self-education. Far from elitism, Tiqqunism champions a collective endeavor to comprehend and dismantle oppressive systems.

Critics also accuse Tiqqunism of failing to amplify marginalized voices. This is a grave misunderstanding of the movement's purpose. Tiqqunism critiques power dynamics, aiming to deconstruct the structures that perpetuate marginalization. It champions the elevation of marginalized voices, providing them with the platform they deserve. It is not enough to merely hear these voices; Tiqqunism seeks to break down the very walls that confine them.

Lastly, critics dismiss Tiqqunism's impact as lacking in concrete results. This shortsighted view undermines the transformative power of intellectual movements. Tiqqunism has already sown the seeds of change, inspiring critical perspectives within academia, the arts, and activism. The persistent ripple effect of Tiqqunist thought will undoubtedly make its mark on society, for challenging the dominant order is a long-term endeavor that requires patience and persistence.

In conclusion, the North American Tiqqunist milieu is an embodiment of audacious intellectual exploration that defies convention and disrupts hegemony. Its complex texts are not barriers but gateways to deep engagement. Its supposed detachment complements grassroots activism. Its emphasis on critique is a catalyst for profound solutions. Its challenging language is an invitation, not a deterrent. Its commitment to marginalized voices is unwavering. Its impact is ongoing, shaping the contours of our discourse. It is in embracing these facets that we recognize Tiqqunism as an indispensable force in our quest for a more just and equitable world.

Like most tiqqunist screeds, heavy on rhetoric, light on substance. tiqqunism in North America pulls almost entirely from a stratum of upper middle class white academics. As long as this is the material base of the milieu, articulating a substantive critique of power is impossible

I can think of at least one other political tendency in the USA that consists almost entirely of a stratum of upper middle class white people...

Platypus?

This doesn't have anything to do with the Atlanta forest. What is this blog even about?

Add new comment