Resistance, Revolution and Fascism: Zapatismo and Assemblage Politics

Description

Examining the under-theorized relationship between revolution and fascism, this book outlines a politics of resistance to these forms of domination. Through an examination of the psychic conditions created by integrated world capitalism, as well as by the revolutionary projects that oppose this form of financial and social organization, Anthony Faramelli identifies the limits of revolutionary thinking. In doing so he argues that revolutionary projects inevitably reproduce the same organization of life and structures of control as capitalism. Following its analysis of revolution and fascism, this book argues for a way out of our current political stasis through the development of a philosophically informed practice of resistance termed 'assemblage politics'. Drawing on the resistant philosophies developed by Deleuze and Guattari, Howard Caygill's defiant philosophy, and the Zapatista insurgents, the form of resistance proposed is marked by a structural fluidity that allows it to avoid being captured by capitalism's repressive structures. Enabling a better understanding of the current social-political landscape, and providing a fuller context of the political necessity to move away from notions of revolution, this book is relevant to those interested in postcolonial theory and Latin American politics, political philosophy and the growing field of resistance studies.

Anthony Faramelli is Associate Lecturer in Media and Communications at Kingston University London, UK. His research and publications are concerned with practices of resistance in postcolonial politics and social-therapy. He is the editor with Rob White and David Hancock of the forthcoming collection, Spaces of Crisis and Critique (forthcoming, Bloomsbury).

A decisive turn is taking place in philosophy and politics: from Bandung and post colonial theory as well as the global legacy of '68 to a decolonized critique ready to take on the big themes once again: revolution, class, race, gender, poverty. This brilliant book is both proof and part of this crucial transformation, and we all owe a debt of gratitude to its author for this gift. Through this book and others like it, we are beginning to learn more about the encounters between the previous generation of Euro-American critics and their interlocutors elsewhere. Guattari in Brazil, John Berger in Mexican Chiapas, Michael Hardt in Central America and Colombia, or attending the seminal meetings of the Modernity/Coloniality Group. They listened, they learned and brought the insights of their Afro- and Amerindian interlocutors into their philosophical critiques. The result is a renewed sense of the intetwinement between racism, gender exclusion and poverty at the heart of integrated world capitalism, but also of the way in which Amerindian Perspectivism and ways to fabricate other temporalities that aren't just temporary, as demonstrated by the Zapatista, show that there is life beyond money and capitalism now and ahead of us. Read this and let global oppressors tremble! -- Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Reader in Law, Birkbeck, University of London, UK How can we live up to the task of living a non-fascist life? How to make revolutions which don't fail? In an illuminating analysis, Anthony Faramelli explores these imperative questions of radical political today. The book is a significant contribution to debates on the natures of revolution and fascism, and makes a compelling case for why we should understand the problem of fascism as being inherent to revolution itself. It is also an exciting text for anyone interested in Fanon, and the argument it makes for the uniqueness of the Zapatistas as a model for revolutionary action is important. * Julian Reid, Professor of International Relations, University of Lapland, Finland * The political and revolutionary Left is not immune to fascism. Faramelli offers a crucial and timely diagnosis of fascist and authoritarian tendencies that we should all take seriously at every level of social reality. Resistance, Revolution and Fascism is truly a handbook for anti-fascist living in the age of biopolitics. It is essential reading for the revolution. * Thomas Nail, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Denver, USA * Fascism remains the main strategic adversary of our times. Moving beyond simple and reductive state-theory explanations, Faramelli encourages us to look directly into the heads lights of everyday violations and in doing so rethink the meaning of oppression in the 21st century. This book is sure to be of interest to scholars and activists alike. * Brad Evans, Reader in Political Violence, University of Bristol, UK *