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Friday, June 17, 2011
Paul and Lenin: An Anarchist Critique
...on this view, Zizek is correct to argue that Paul and Lenin are isometric. Both changed the polis by universalizing a form of subjectivity. In Paul's case, Zizek and Badiou argue that he spearheaded the invention of a new mode of subjectivity beyond the specific lifeworld of being-Jewish. In the case of Lenin, the transition was from being working class to being a proletarian.
However, there is an underside to these isometric transitions.
Both forms of subjectivity also underwrite massive institutional norms--official Christianity and Soviet Communism. Indeed, the subjectivity itself is always secondary in the last instance to a teleological vision of History (the triumph of the true Church, the downfall of capitalism).
Such a "revolutionary" subjectivity is thus totally standardized, like Ford's "Any color you like..."
This essay by Junge Linke does a great job of explaining the paradoxes.
Aren't all subjective experiences ultimately founded on a teleological and institutional basis? And isn't it also true that we require subjectivity to live?
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