Category Archives: Politics

Shapiro on Foucault

Recording of an interview with Stephen Shapiro – co-author of new book How to Read Foucault’s Discipline and Punish – is available here. Interesting discussion of what Foucault is doing, and links to contemporary events and questions. The discussion of higher … Continue reading

Posted in Michel Foucault, Politics, Universities | Leave a comment

Judith Butler on Palestine

Interesting piece by Judith Butler on the Palestine bid for statehood and the demise of the Oslo accords in the London Review of Books. One small excerpt: If nothing else, a new set of dynamics will be inaugurated through the … Continue reading

Posted in Boundaries, Judith Butler, Politics, Territory | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Leibniz on the Death Penalty

Just come across this when looking for something else. While the justification of torture is jarring, the rest is unfortunately all-too-relevant. The question is whether there are grounds for capital punishment if two witnesses are brought forward against a defendant, … Continue reading

Posted in Gottfried Leibniz, Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Nicholas Blomley on Sidewalks, Police and the City

An interesting piece freely available here. The piece looks at ‘police’ in a broader sense than just the police force, and discusses Mark Neocleous’s work on this topic, especially his The Fabrication of Social Order: A Critical Theory of Police Power. … Continue reading

Posted in Mark Neocleous, Nicholas Blomley, Politics | Leave a comment

Camus, ‘Reflections on the Guillotine’ (more)

Thanks to the kindness of Nicholas Dahmann, I’ve been sent a copy of the Camus piece mentioned in the last post. (I already have the book it is in, Resistance, Rebellion, and Death, on order, so this merely sped up … Continue reading

Posted in Albert Camus, Politics, Troy Davis | Leave a comment

Camus, ‘Reflections on the Guillotine’

Eduardo Mendieta suggests that Albert Camus’s ‘Reflections on the Guillotine’ is worth another look. Of course the French debate happened some time ago, but not that long ago – one of the things Foucault did when involved with the Groupe … Continue reading

Posted in Albert Camus, Eduardo Mendieta, Michel Foucault, Politics | Leave a comment

The Killings of Troy Davis

Like many people I’ve been fascinated and horrified by the case of Troy Davis. Davis was found guilty of the 1989 murder of an off-duty policeman, who had gone to the defence of a man being beaten. Davis was convicted … Continue reading

Posted in Jeremy Bamber, Politics, Troy Davis | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Israel/Palestine maps

Whatever else the Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN has achieved, it has brought discussion back to the centre of attention. The cartography of the region is, of course, highly political. This new piece in Political Geography (“Trapped in … Continue reading

Posted in Boundaries, Henri Lefebvre, Neil Brenner, Politics, Territory | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stuart Hall on neoliberalism

Interesting piece in The Guardian. [Update longer versionin Soundings here – thanks to Peter Gratton, via Paul Gilroy, for the link]

Posted in Politics, Stuart Hall | Leave a comment

Exterritory project event on Extraterritoriality

Interesting and intriguing invitation to speak at an event on extraterritoriality by the Exterritory Project. The project is run by two Israeli artists – Ruti Sela and Maayan Amir. They’ve done things like project art works onto the sails of … Continue reading

Posted in Boundaries, Conferences, Politics, Territory | 1 Comment