Jim Vernon
jvernon@yorku.ca

Perhaps the only thing that unites the Continental tradition of political philosophy is the overwhelming focus of nearly all of its major thinkers on political emancipation.  Founded in meditations on the import of the French Revolution and its aftermath, Continental political philosophy has generally concerned itself with the identification, and overcoming, of political repression in all of its varied forms, particular in the purportedly democratic West. Of course, a philosophy of emancipation presupposes the philosophical identification of two things: 1) the existence of structures of political and social repression; and 2) a political subject who is both repressed by, and can liberate itself from, them. This course offers an intensive survey of various influential conceptions of the nature of political repression, the subject of emancipation, or both in the Continental tradition of political philosophy, broadly construed.  The first half of the course will focus on the 1960s, when emancipatory politics, as well as the public influence of Continental philosophy, was arguably at its height in the 20th century.  We will then examine some ways in which thinkers modified their analyses during the subsequent period of reactionary politics of the 1970s-1990s, as well as the recent revival 1960s-inspired politics and philosophy towards the close of the millennium. The readings for the final week will be decided upon by the students in the seminar.

As will become clear from the course readings, the political philosophy of the 1960s is inextricable from a broader emancipatory culture, both in terms of the concrete social acts of individuals and collectives and of musical, poetic, and other forms of artistic revolt.  Thus, in addition to the required readings for each week, I have listed documentary films which recount social movements relevant to that week’s reading, as well as films, poems, and albums representative of the artistic climate that accompanied them. While these may or may not be touched upon in class, they are highly recommended, as it is difficult to both appreciate and appraise many of these texts without at least some understanding of other cultural forces with which they were in dialogue. As such, it is highly recommended that you consult at least some of the supplementary materials during the term. I am always available on email and in office hours to provide additional materials should students want to explore any given topic, movement, artist or thinker more deeply, and I encourage students to both watch/listen to/recite them collectively, as well as to share extra resources with each other.

Technical requirements for taking the course: As a seminar, this class will not only run synchronously, but will not have recorded lectures. I strongly encourage all students to turn their cameras on for the duration of class, as participation and discussion are a central part of the course.

Courseware, edited by the instructor

Herbet Marcuse, An Essay on Liberation (Beacon Press)

Jacques Ranciere, The Ignorant Schoolmaster, trans. Kirstin Ross (Stanford University Press)

Attendance and Active Class Participation 15%

5 ‘response’ papers 20% (4% each)

Term Paper 35%

Two Peer-Grade Reports 30% (15% each)

Lecture/Reading Schedule:

Week 1

Albert Camus, selections from The Rebel

Recommended: Howl, by Allen Ginsberg

Free Jazz, Ornette Coleman (Atlantic)

Water Walk, John Cage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9vvrSyAPuw)

Week 2

Louis Althusser, ‘Ideology and Ideological State Apparatus (Notes Towards an Investigation)’; Herbert Marcuse, An Essay on Liberation, Introduction and Chapter 1

Recommended:  La Chinoise (dir. Jean-Luc Godard)

Kick out the Jams, MC5 (Elektra)

Selections from The Will to Change and Diving into the Wreck,           Adrienne Rich

A Grin without a Cat (dir. Chris Marker)

Week 3

Herbert Marcuse, An Essay on Liberation, Chapters 2-4

Recommended: Chicago 10 (dir. Brett Morgan)

Poem from Jail, Ed Sanders (City Lights)

Black Angels, George Crumb (various recordings)

Week 4

Angela Davis, ‘Unfinished Lecture on Liberation – II’; ‘Race and Criminalization: Black Americans and the Punishment Industry’; ‘The Approaching Obsolescence of Housework: A Working-Class Perspective’

Recommended: Free Angela and All Political Prisoners (dir. Shola Lynch)

Attica Blues, Archie Shepp (Impulse)

‘Why is We Americans’, by Amiri Baraka (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNPtYmVN6SI)

Week 5

Huey Newton, ‘Speech at Boston College, 1970’; ‘Interview with the Movement’

Recommended: All Power to the People (dir. Lee Lew Lee)

The Murder of Fred Hampton (dir. Howard Alk)

This is Madness, by Last Poets (Celluloid)

Week 6

No Class (Reading Week)

Recommended: The Battle of Chile (dir., Patricio Guzman)

The Weather Underground (dir. Sam Greene and Bill Siegel)

Week 7

Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze, ‘Intellectuals and Power’; Michel Foucault, ‘The Dangerous Individual’

Recommended: The Chomsky-Foucault Debate (YouTube has it)

Week 8

Jacques Derrida, ‘Racism’s Last Word’; Anne McClintock and Rob Nixon, ‘’No Names Apart: The Separation of Word and History in Derrida’s ‘Le Dernier Mot du Racism’; Derrida, ‘But Beyond….’ (Open Letter to Anne McClintock and Rob Nixon)”

Week 9

Judith Butler, ‘Survivability, Vulnerability, Affect’

Week 10

Alain Badiou, ‘Politics and Philosophy’

Week 11

Jacques Ranciere, The Ignorant Schoolmaster

Recommended: Noam Chomsky, ‘The Corporate Assault on Public Education’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbMP-cy1INA

Week 12

Jacques Ranciere, The Ignorant Schoolmaster

Term Papers due

Week 13

Class choice, TBA

Peer-Grading Reports Due

These texts are often quite difficult, and thus the schedule may vary slightly in accordance with class discussion, etc. Consider this a more or less accurate guide, not a rigid schedule. As such, class attendance is necessary to keep up with what is happening any given week.

To understand a variety of Continental and Continental-inspired theories of political emancipation; to sharpen essay writing, as well as editing skills by learning how to give constructive feedback from others and incorporate it oneself; to embed philosophical knowledge in an understanding of its interaction with broader social trends.