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Ferguson - Law and Critique Comment Piece - Nov 14 FINAL as amended 12nov14 CLEAN version.pdf (171.13 kB)

Performing struggle: parrhesia in Ferguson

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 04:00 authored by Bal Sokhi-BulleyBal Sokhi-Bulley
‘The enigma of revolts.’ You can almost hear the sigh at the end of this sentence. Foucault is making a statement here, published under the title ‘Useless to Revolt’, on that ‘impulse by which a single individual, a group, a minority, or an entire people says, “I will no longer obey”’. In this short piece, I question the two sides of the enigma – how to label the revolt – is the act of rioting, such as what we witnessed in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014 ‘proper resistance’ – and, how to understand the ethos of the rioter. The label of counter-conduct, I argue clarifies the enigma as it allows us, challenges us even, to see the event as political. Counter-conduct provides a new framework for reading spontaneous and improvised forms of political expression. The rioter can then be seen as political and rational, as demonstrating ethical behavior. The ethos of this behavior is represented as an ethics of the self, a form of parrhesia where the rioter risks herself and shows courage to tell the truth, the story of her community.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Law and Critique

ISSN

0957-8536

Publisher

Springer Verlag

Issue

1

Volume

26

Page range

7-10

Department affiliated with

  • Law Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2016-11-14

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2016-11-14

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2016-11-13

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