Perm The plan can be deployed as part of a universal strategy to restructure social space this isnt intrinsic because

se it is our particular demand that gives way to a universal politics. Zizek, ! PhD, Professor of Philosophy at The European Graduate School (Slavoj, Journal of Political Ideologies, !or a "eftist #ppropriation of the European "egacy,$ http%&&'''(lacan(co)&*i*e+,leftist(ht)#re 'e then conde)ned to the de.ilitating alternative of choosing .et'een a +nave or a fool, or is there a tertiu) datur/ Perhaps the contours of this tertiu) datur can .e discerned via the reference to the funda)ental European legacy( 0hen one says 1European legacy2, every self,respectful "eftist intellectual has the sa)e reaction as Joseph Goe..els had to culture as such,he reaches for his gun and starts to shoot out accusations of proto,!ascist Eurocentrist cultural i)perialis)( 3o'ever, is it possi.le to i)agine a "eftist appropriation of the European political tradition/ 0as it not politici*ation in a specific Gree+ sense 'hich re,e)erged violently in the disintegration of Eastern European Socialis)/ !ro) )y o'n political past, I re)e).er ho', after four journalists 'ere arrested and .rought to trial .y the 4ugoslav #r)y in Slovenia in 5677, I participated in the 18o))ittee for the protection of the hu)an rights of the four accused2( 9fficially, the goal of the 8o))ittee 'as just to guarantee fair treat)ent for the four accused: ho'ever, the 8o))ittee turned into the )ajor oppositional political force, practically the Slovene version of the 8*ech 8ivic !oru) or East Ger)an ;eues !oru), the .ody 'hich coordinated de)ocratic opposition, a de facto representative of civil society( The progra) of the 8o))ittee 'as set up in four ite)s: the first three directly concerned the accused, 'hile the devil 'hich resides in the detail , of course, 'as the fourth ite), 'hich said that the 8o))ittee 'anted to clarify the entire .ac+ground of the arrest of the four accused and thus contri.ute to creating the circu)stances in 'hich such arrests 'ould no longer .e possi.le,a coded 'ay to say that 'e 'anted the a.olish)ent of the e<isting Socialist regi)e( 9ur de)and 1Justice for the accused four=2 started to function as the )etaphoric condensation of the de)and for the glo.al overthro' of the Socialist regi)e( !or that reason, in al)ost daily negotiations 'ith the 8o))ittee, the 8o))unist Party officials 'ere al'ays accusing us of a 1hidden agenda2, clai)ing that the li.eration of the accused four 'as not our true goal, i(e( that 'e 'ere 1e<ploiting and )anipulating the arrest and trial for other, dar+er political goals2( In short, the 8o))unists 'anted to play the 2rational2 depolitici*ed ga)e% they 'anted to deprive the slogan 1Justice for the accused four=2 of its e<plosive general connotation, and to reduce it to its literal )eaning 'hich concerned just a )inor legal )atter: they cynically clai)ed that it 'as us, the 8o))ittee, 'ho 'ere .ehaving 1non,de)ocratically2 and )anipulating the fate of the accused, co)ing up 'ith glo.al pressure and .lac+)ailing strategies instead of focusing on the particular pro.le) of the plight of the accused( This is politics proper% this )o)ent in 'hich a particular de)and is not si)ply part of the negotiation of interests, .ut ai)s at so)ething )ore, i(e( starts to function as the )etaphoric condensation of the glo.al restructuring of the entire social space( The contrast
is clear .et'een this su.jectivi*ation of a part of the social .ody 'hich rejects its su.ordinated place in the social police edifice and de)ands to .e heard at the level of egali.erte, and today2s proliferation of post)odern 1identity,politics2 'hose goal is the e<act opposite, i(e( precisely the assertion of one2s particular identity, of one2s proper place 'ithin the social structure( The post)odern identity,politics of particular (ethnic, se<ual, etc(- life,styles fits perfectly the depolitici*ed notion of

"## metaphoric condensation perm

society in 'hich every particular group is 1accounted for2, has its specific status (of a victi)- ac+no'ledged through affir)ative action or other )easures destined to guarantee social justice( The fact that this +ind of justice rendered to victi)i*ed )inorities re>uires an intricate police apparatus (for identifying the group in >uestion, for punishing the offenders against its rights,ho' legally to define se<ual harass)ent or racial injury, etc(,for providing the preferential treat)ent 'hich should out'eigh the 'rong this group suffered- is deeply significant( The post)odern 1identity politics2 involves the logic of ressenti)ent, of proclai)ing oneself a victi) and e<pecting the social .ig 9ther to 1pay for the da)age2, 'hile egali.erte .rea+s out of the vicious cycle of ressenti)ent( 0hat is usually praised as 1post)odern politics2 (the pursuit of particular issues 'hose resolution is to .e negotiated 'ithin the 2rational2 glo.al order allocating to its particular co)ponent its proper place- is thus effectively the end of politics proper(

Turn The permutation is more subversive because it makes demands on the system that the system e$pects will never be made. The alternatives radical attempt to impose something completely different is more easily defeated. Zizek, ! Professor of Philosophy at Institute of Social Sciences at ?niversity of "ju.ljana (Slavoj, "a' and the Post)odern @ind, 0hy Does the "a' need an 9.scene Supple)ent/$ Pg 65,6A!inally, the

point a.out inherent transgression is not that every opposition, every atte)pt at su.version, is auto)atically Bcoopted.B 9n the contrary, the very fear of .eing coopted that )a+es us search for )ore and )ore Bradical,% BpureB attitudes, is the supre)e strategy of suspension or )arginali*ation. The point is rather that true su.version is not al'ays 'here it see)s to .e( So)eti)es, a s)all distance is )uch )ore e<plosive for the syste) than an ineffective radical rejection( In religion, a s)all heresy can .e )ore threatening than an
outright atheis) or passage to another religion: for a hard,line Stalinist, a Trots+yite is infinitely )ore threatening than a .ourgeois li.eral or social de)ocrat( #s le 8arre put it, one true revisionist in the 8entral 8o))ittee is 'orth )ore than thousand dissidents outside it( It 'as easy to dis)iss Gor.achev for ai)ing only at i)proving the syste), )a+ing it )ore efficient,he nonetheless set in )otion its disintegration( So one should also .ear in )ind the o.verse of the inherent transgression% one is te)pted to paraphrase !reud2s clai) fro) The Ego and the Id that )an is not only )uch )ore i))oral than he .elieves, .ut also )uch )ore )oral than he +no's,the Syste) is not only infinitely )ore resistant and invulnera.le than it )ay appear (it can coopt apparently su.versive strategies, they can serve as its support-, it is also infinitely )ore vulnera.le (a s)all revision etc, can have large unforeseen catastrophic conse>uences-( 9r, to put it in another 'ay% the parado<ical role of the un'ritten superego injunction is that, 'ith regard to the e<plicit, pu.lic "a', it is si)ultaneously transgressive (superego suspends, violates, the e<plicit social rules- and )ore coercive (superego consists of additional rules that restrain the field of choice .y 'ay of prohi.iting the possi.ilities allo'ed for, guaranteed even, .y the pu.lic "a'-( !ro) )y personal history, I recall the )o)ent of the referendu) for the independence of Slovenia as the e<e)plary case of such a forced choice% the 'hole point, of course, 'as to have a truly free choice,.ut nonetheless, in the pro,independence euphoria, every argu)entation for re)aining 'ithin 4ugoslavia 'as i))ediately denounced as treacherous and disloyal( This e<a)ple is especially suita.le since Slovenes 'ere deciding a.out a )atter that 'as literally BtransgressiveB (to .rea+ fro) 4ugoslavia 'ith its constitutional order-, 'hich is 'hy the Celgrade authorities denounced Slovene referendu) as unconstitutional,one 'as thus ordered to transgress the"a' ((( The

o.verse of the o)nipotence of the un'ritten is thus that, if one ignores the), they si)ply cease to e<ist, in contrast to the 'ritten la' that e<ists (functions- 'hether one is a'are of it or not&or, as the priest in Daf+a2s The Trial put it, la' does not 'ant anything fro) you, it only .others you if you yourself ac+no'ledge it and address yourself to it 'ith a de)and ((( 0hen, in the late eighteenth century, universal hu)an rights 'ere proclai)ed, this universality, ofcourse,

concealed the fact that they privilege 'hite, )en of property: ho'ever, this li)itation 'as not openly ad)itted, it 'as coded in apparently tautological supple)entary >ualifications li+e Ball hu)ans have rights, insofar as they truly are( rational and free,B B 'hich then i)plicitly e<cludes the )entally ill, Bsavages,B cri)inals, children, 'o)en(2( ( So, if, in this situation, a poor .lac+ 'o)an disregards this un'ritten, i)plicit, >ualification and de)ands hu)an rights, also for herself, she just ta+es the letter ofthe discourse of rights B)ore literally than it 'as )eantB (and there.y redefines its universality, inscri.ing it into a different hege)onic chain-( B!antasyB designates precisely this un'ritten fra)e'or+ that tells us ho' are 'e to understand the letter of "a'( The lesson of this is that,so)eti)es, at least,the truly su.versive thing is not to disregard the e<plicit letter of "a' on .ehalf of the underlying fantasies, .ut to stic+ to this letter against the fantasy that sustains it( Is,at a certain level, at least,this not the outco)e of the long conversation .et'een Josepf D( and the priest that follo's the priest2s narrative on the Door of the "a' in The Trial/,the uncanny effect of this conversation does not reside in the fact that the reader is at a loss insofar as he lac+s the un'ritten interpretive code or fra)e ofreference that 'ould ena.le hi) to discern the hidden @eaning, .ut, on the contrary, in that thepriest2s interpretation of the para.le on the Door of the "a' disregards all standard fra)es of un'ritten rules and reads the te<t in an Ba.solutely literalB 'ay( 9ne could also approach this deadloc+ via( "acan2s notion of the specifically sy).olic )ode of deception% ideology Bcheats precisely .y letting us +no' that its propositions (say, on universal hu)an rights-2 are not to .e read a la

letter of the law perm

lettre, .ut against the.ac+ground of a set of un'ritten rules( So)eti)es, at least, the )ost effective anti,ideological su.version of the official discourse of hu)an rights consists in reading it in an e<cessively BliteralB 'ay, disregarding the set of underlying un'ritten rules( The need for un'ritten rules thus .ears 'itness to, confir)s, this vulnera.ility% the

syste) is co)pelled to allo' for possi.ilities of choices that )ust never actually ta+e place since they 'ould disintegrate thesyste), and the function of the un'ritten rules is precisely to prevent the actuali*ation of these choices for)ally allo'ed .y the syste)( 9ne can see ho' un'ritten rules are correlative to, the o.verseof, the e)pty sy).olic
gesture and&or the forced choice% un'ritten rules prevent the su.ject fro) effectively accepting 'hat is offered in the e)pty gesture, fro) ta+ing the choice literally and choosing the i)possi.le, that the choice of 'hich destroys the syste)( In the Soviet ?nion of the 56EFs and 56AFs, to ta+e the )ost e<tre)e e<a)ple, it 'as not only prohi.ited to critici*e Stalin, it 'as perhaps even )ore prohi.ited to enounce pu.licly this prohi.ition, i(e(, too state that one is prohi.ited to critici*e Stalin,the syste) needed to )aintain the appearance that one is allo'ed to critici*e Stalin, i(e(, thatthe a.sence of this criticis) (and the fact that there is no opposition party or )ove)ent, that theParty got 66(66G of the votes at elections- si)ply de)onstrates that Stalin is effectively the .est and (al)ost- al'ays right( In 3egelese, this appearance >ua appearance 'as essential( This dialectical tension .et'een the vulnera.ility and invulnera.ility of the Syste) also ena.les us to denounce the ulti)ate racist and&or se<ist tric+, that of Bt'o .irds in the .ush instead of a .ird in handB% 'hen 'o)en de)and2 si)ple e>uality, >uasi,Bfe)inistsB often pretend to offer the) B)uch )oreB (the role of the 'ar) and 'ise Bconscience of society,B elevated a.ove the vulgar everyday co)petition and struggle for do)ination (((-,the only proper ans'er to this offer, of course, is B;o, than+s= Cetter is the ene)y of the Good= 0e do not 'ant )ore, just e>uality=B 3ere, at least, the last lines in ;o' Hoyager (B0hy reach for the )oon, 'hen 'e can have the stars/B- are 'rong( It is ho)ologous 'ith the native #)erican 'ho 'ants to .eco)e integrated into the predo)inant B'hiteB society, and a politically correct progressive li.eral endeavors to convince hi) that, he is there.y renouncing his very uni>ue prerogative, the authentic native culture and tradition,no than+s, si)ple e>uality is enough, I also 'ouldn2t )ind )y part of consu)erist alienation=

((( # )odest de)and of thee<cluded group for the full participation at the society2s universal rights is )uch )ore threatening forthe syste) than the apparently )uch )ore BradicalB rejection of the predo)inant Bsocial valuesB andthe assertion of the superiority of one2s o'n culture ( !or a true fe)inist, 9tto 0eininger2s
assertion that, although 'o)en are Bontologically false,B lac+ing the proper ethical stature, they should .e ac+no'ledged the sa)e rights as )en in pu.lic life, is infinitely )ore accepta.le than the false elevationof 'o)en that )a+es the) Btoo goodB for the .anality of )en2s rights(

'esolved before the colon means reserved we dont need to be certain about its truth this is key to analyzing performativity (vans, )* Te<as De.ate (;athan Dir+, 8ED# De.ate, #I% Jeff P,,Is the resolution a >uestion/$The resolution is not a >uestion( It is a state)ent that has BresolvedB on one side and a nor)ative state)ent on the other separated .y a colon( 0hat is the )eaning of Bresolved/B I +no' Cill Shanahan has )ade the argu)ent that BresolvedB )eans Breserved,B in 'hich case the resolution doesn2t re>uire you to arrive at any certainty a.out the truth of the nor)ative state)ent(
I( The resolution has no intonation( Thus, various types of ironic and non,serious advocacies could .e possi.le, none of 'hich 'ould prove the BtruthB of the resolution% they )ight prove the opposite( E( 0hy all this focus on truth/ "anguage also has Bperfor)ativeB value% it does things( To ta+e an e<a)ple fro) #ustin, the founder of Bperfor)ativityB theory, the state)ent BI

doB is not si)ply a state)ent of fact( In the conte<t of a )arriage cere)ony, it does so)ething,,it .inds a couple in )atri)ony( 9r to ta+e another e<a)ple, hate speech has effects that can .e evaluated outside >uestions of truth&falsity ( De.aters could thus evaluate the perfor)ative effect of the resolution outside of its truth value ( !or e<a)ple, saying&perfor)ing the resolution )ight .e productive even if the resolution is untrue (
(Several )onths ago I 'rote out a fairly lengthy e<planation of perfor)ativity 'hich I could send out if people are still confused a.out 'hat I )ean(- A( 3o' i)portant is the resolution/ 8ould the resolution just .e a

spring.oard for discussion rather than .eing the pri)e )otivator of de.ates / There2s no de.ate rule,.oo+ that says de.ates al'ays have to .e 'on or lost on the resolution ( If .oth tea)s are having a fair and productive de.ate a.out D# 'ithin the G3#, hasn2t the resolution2s purpose .een served/ I +no' you )ight not thin+ these possi.ilities )a+e for the .est de.ate( @y point, ho'ever, is that there is a de.ate to .e had a.out 'hat the )eaning of the de.ate foru) is and you should allo' de.aters to have that de.ate rather than pre,deciding the issue( The difference .et'een de.aters .eing judged and students having their papers graded is that in the latter e<a)ple students are generally una.le to argue in their papers that the standards .y 'hich their papers are graded should itself .e changed( De.aters, ho'ever, have that opportunity(

'esolved +efore ,olon