Ferguson - Law and Critique Comment Piece - Nov 14 FINAL as amended 12nov14 CLEAN version.pdf (171.13 kB)
Performing struggle: parrhesia in Ferguson
‘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.
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Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Law and CritiqueISSN
0957-8536Publisher
Springer VerlagExternal DOI
Issue
1Volume
26Page range
7-10Department affiliated with
- Law Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2016-11-14First Open Access (FOA) Date
2016-11-14First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2016-11-13Usage metrics
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