anti-crisis by janet roitman

7/27/2019 Anti-Crisis by Janet Roitman

1/28

ANTI-CRISIS

JANETROITMAN


2/28

anti-crisis

janetroitman

dukuvyp duhdld

2014


3/28

2014 Uvt t vd

td t Utd Stat ma ad- pap

pt Saa ad Oat Imat Stm, I.

La C Cata--at ata

Rtma, Jat L. (Jat L)

t- / Jat Rtma.

pa m

Id apa ad dx.

isbn 978-0-8223-5512-0 (t : a. pap)

isbn 978-0-8223-5527-4 (p. : a. pap)

1. C (p)

2. C ( E d)

3. Ht, d21t t. I. t.

b105.c75r65 2013

302.17d23 2013024847

m t pap pa v

a It t Y

Wtt : avd Gat

1970 S/ATV llc. t admtd

S/ATV llc, 8 Sqa Wt,

Nav, N 37203. t vd. Ud pm.

Duke uniVersiTy Press grATeully AcknowleDgesThe suPPorT o The new school, which ProViDeD

unDs TowArD The PublicATion o This book.


4/28

for leonore and harry roitman


5/28

am, t t p . . .

breAD, a It t Y

at, pap, a t ma at t.

H a a ma at t a 1800 t

tt at, tt tt, tt a,

tt ptt, tt pa.

VirginiA wool, A Room o Ones Own (1929)


6/28

contents

x dmt

1 inTroDucTion Wat I at Sta?

15 chAPTer 1 C mad

judgment day

the moral demand

the test

41 chAPTer 2 C Naatv

bubbles

houses

finance

subjects

71 chAPTer 3 C: Ra!noncrisis narration

the crisis that does not obtain

91 conclusion am

97 Nt

133 R

153 Idx


7/28

acknowledgments

a pp pd m t . Idd, I d av

v p t pjt ad t m md ad t t

ata , St, a , ad a Ra, a

m tad ad ad t pjt p a. ata

Poon, Ann Stoler, and Mary Murrell passed along every crisis text

t d. ata pd m t p m md t matatt ad t a pjt tat md t dam. S ad mad

dat, xad t -ma, datd v d, ad pd

m t t pjt vat t ma pata dav

aadm ad d. H mmt ad dt apt 2 ad 3

are especially appreciated; but, overall, this book benets enormously

m ata a; t a d t av t am

project without her consistent support and her constant, searching

a. I xp m appat tta vv t

pa tat . St mmdat t tt

t pjt, t t t qtv ad d-

tinctive manner o nurturing the projects and people that seem to

v ad m ad . S ad ma dat, aa a-

ing incisive questions, always insisting on clarity and clarication.

Her reservations and her comprehension helped me to keep this

pjt v , ad t t t t. pjt am


8/28

xiiacknowledgments

a ta, a, t t amt ad pmpt a

, azd a pa Sta C t m

t 2011 ma tp at mt, pd

m t tat t q a t a t a t md. H -

tvt ad t ad t a aa d d-

a m. d, a v, a Ra pptatd t tat tat

ad m t pat a a pa t pjt: at ad a

dat v a , xatv a, td tam

t pjt a a t mpt, ad t ad, t aa-

tt t, Bt at t at?

I at t xp mm attd t B a ad t

dat mapt m tat t , ptt t qt tme, and or giving me good advice, all o which made or a more

thoughtul nal version. Im also very grateul to Orit Halpern, Jay

Bernstein, Richard Bernstein, Gil Anidjar, Nicolas Langlitz, Ruth

Marshall, Charles Piot, Tobias Rees, Julia Elyachar, and Robin Wagner-

a t ad dat; v m p mmt, -

t, ad ; d t pjt t m d-

t v. Spa, am ta t m a t

anthropology department at the New School or Social ResearchAnn Stoler, Lawrence Hirscheld, Hugh Raes, Miriam Ticktin,

Na Latz, jaat Raa m av a t-

at t pjt, t tmv a tm t

at t a t d , t aa ttd, ad v-

tably with humor. The graduate students at the New School have been

qa ttd ad a, pa t patpatd

t ma I tat tp atd t t pjt, t p

t a ad ad tm pap, ad a

at m. Im dtd pa t Rad I

ta d at ad , pad, ppa

t dx, p m ta, ad ttt adv.

O course, over the past ew years, many others have motivated

ad pd m t pjt: Ca, Ja G, dam -

t, j ppada, t at Ca Bd, Ja Cma,

John Comaro, Peter Geschiere, Doug Holmes, Stephen Collier, Pault, m aa, Ca Wa, da amd, Bat Fa-


9/28

acknowledgments xiii

kel, Nicolas Dodier, Frdric Keck, Elisabeth Clavrie, Luc Boltan-

, Cat , Ja-Fa Baat, Bat H, ad m-

nique Malaquais (who, in a phone conversation in 2007, said, Its

the anti-crisis!). I owe very sincere thanks to Craig Calhoun, Sam

Cat, ad Ja C, xpta t m

d m tm a a Sa--Rd at t Ittt

Knowledge, New York University, where much o this manuscript was

tt. a t Fd t ad avd Y a vpd -

mt t. d t t d t a . . .

I have beneted rom exchanges with participants in many con-

erences and seminars, including: Reworking Political Concepts.

A Lexicon in Formation, the New School or Social Research andCma Uvt St F; tat Std W-

shop, Duke University; The Stakes o Crisis, American Anthro-

p at; at Ct, cnrs-nyu; U-dpd

Encounters: Science as a Terrain o Postcolonial Interaction be-

t a ad Ep, t Uvt Gt ad Cat U-

versity o Leuven, University Foundation, Brussels; Department o

Anthropology and Sociology, Swarthmore College; Anthropology

patmt, Uvt Ca; Rt Em t-pology: A Human Centred Approach, Economic and Social Research

C (UK), patmt tp, Ld S E-

nomics; and the Franz Boas Lecture Series, Anthropology Depart-

ment, Columbia University. Some o the material published herein

appad pv C, Political Concepts: A Critical Lexicon:

ttp://.ptapt./2011/.

K W a a dt tt ad a a d-

t. I ta m aat t m t pjt t t

anticipation and reassurance. I also want to express appreciation to

t am v t mapt; t t ad

ad d qt dpa t m. d ta a

t Ezat t ad t pat.

I cant ever suciently express my gratitude to Grard Roso or

tat matt at at (Ma petite entre-

prise / Connat pas la crise.Bashung). Thanks to him or aordingtm ad pa, da t limpatience de la libert. d -


10/28

xivacknowledgments

d ta t Eva R ad Ra R t t-

, am, d, tdt, mpt . . . pat t m.

a t v .

ddatd t L ad Ha Rtma, t

f ad t d, ad t at.


11/28

introduction

what is at stake?

NormalcyNever Again

MArTin luTher king r.

Nma, Nv a t tt t p pd a ad-

d t dvd at Lt K J. t tp t L-

ma t 28, 1963. at da, v, at LtKing Jr. deviated rom his NormalcyNever Again text, instead

mpv at a t I Hav a am p. I

ad t a, a tt f add t v da

tda Jaa 15, 2009. Fv da at, dp

K a ad dam t Wat a, Baa Oama,

jt atd a t t-t pdt t Utd Stat,

dd tmpa ma t tm : W a

t mdt .

L K ma, v, Oama d t aat-

z a mmt t a t ma a a, at a-

atzd a a j. j, dd Oama tm

t ad a, ta a a t pta t a -

m ad pta jt. d t, at v a vt

t ta at m t, j d, t-

tdOama addd a qa: a t dat ,he said, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less


12/28

2introduction

pd a app d a ada a a

that Americas decline is inevitable, and that the next generation

mt t t. H t dd: t

condencethe knowledge that God calls upon us to shape an uncer-

ta dt. S d t a tat mp tat

t ta ta, pap ttt, a tata

j, , a td d, a matt f p,

promise, and grace: With hope and virtue, let us brave once more

t t ad d at tm ma m. Lt t ad

our childrens children that when we were tested we reused to let this

j d, tat dd t t a dd at; ad t

xd t z ad Gd a p , ad tthat great git o reedom and delivered it saely to uture genera-

t. C a ta vt a m a t a d d-

tion of lie and even the grounds or a transcendent human condition.

Obama noted in his address that the lived experience o what is

dmd d t dd t a m -

nomic indicators. He sought to convey to the American public that

d a t pt dt f a ta a experi-

ence o crisis. His secular narrative of human history is conjugatedt a Cta aatv t. d t t a -

described secular accounts in the social sciences that attempt to relate

t a t a aatzd as ; t a tat

a a ad t in ; ad t a tat m

a mpatv, a dv dtad t at tv

situations that belie, or the actors, a sense o possibility (Mbembe

ad Rtma 1995). Bt t qt a: dat

mt m ta a ta jt, at t tat

tat tm? H dd , a a ta, dv m-

ment, come to be construed as a protracted historical and experiential

dt? v da a a dt t a

tat aa. Bt a pa a tat d ? I t

t a xm?

I t p t tat t tm a t mt mm ad

mt pvav qa tmpa ta dtadmanner o denoting history itselthis book sets the stage or a gen-


13/28

introduction 3

a q t t tat a t ad t-

ing and thereore oers a departure, not a resolution.3 In what ollows,

I am t d t tz t tm t m p t a

working denition of it. Rather than essentialize it so as to make better

f t, I t dtad t d t tm

t d t tt aatv m. L, I am

t d t dmtat tat mt

tmpa aatv at tat t a a v tat a

t f da. I t a v t tat ,

I tmpa a t tm a

ad a a t, m t ma.

What I will consider is how crisis is constituted as an object od. C a mpt amt a m a-

rative today; it is mobilized as the dening category of historical situa-

t, pat ad pt. t ap t a

and popular press is vast; crisis texts are a veritable industry.5 The

ap a m t d ap cnn-t:

ata, a, Ia, Iaq,

t C, Ca, t dd Eat, a

Stt. Bt d a pt, qa t v ato events: humanitarian crisis, environmental crisis, energy crisis,

dt , aa , ad t. t tm ,

the singularity o events is abstracted by a generic logic, making crisis

a tm tat m -xpaat. I p t ma a at

, v a t -mat tmpa t-

cal narrative; it is a non- locus rom which to claim access to both

t ad d f t. I t d, mzd

aatv tt t ma t t dat mmt

tt; t ta t a ma t a ta tt, ad v a

ma t t t t. S mmt tt a t d-

d a t pt t, d a ta vt

are decided, thus establishing a particular teleology. And similarly,

t m tt t t, mmt a

dd a ta matvt ad a, a t

contingent or partial quality of knowledge claimsprinciples, sup-pt, pm, ta, ad a aa ata d-


14/28

4introduction

puted, critiqued, challenged, or disclosed. It ollows that crisis is

posited as an epistemological impasse and, as we will see below, is

claimed to ound the possibility or other historical trajectories or

v a () t.

Baa Oama vd t vat p t a:

a a mmt tat va tt, t dtd t mt

t t -ad aa dvd ad a

value and oered the hope o reestablishing or relocating true value,

at t t a t damta t m ad

the proper trajectory of history, both being dependent on adequate

d am. a at dt a mmt tt t

a, ad dpt pmpt tat d t mp, t, adt dt a, t tm a dat

t pt; t mp a ta t a t vta, t

mt t mpt, dtd tad a m. Ev ta

t a m a t q a mpaatv tat jd-

mt: mpad t at? at qt v t a

a a axa pm, t qt t pt-

ma ta d ta dma f ad tt.

This book inquires into the signicance o crisis in-and-o-itsel. In-tad tat t pata t a, t a-

cial crisis, the crisis o subjectivity, the neoliberal crisisand then

t xpa t a ad damt, I t a qt

t pt t. d , I xp t

am t a ta pt: I a av t tat a

a t-ppa pt ad I a pat tat v

premise in narrations of history and in the determinations o what

v t a t. xp t tdx t -

vta tap t tm ad t qta pat

I take an impudent and somewhat puzzling step. In the pages that ol-

, mt p t Rat K ad Rt S, ma

H ad avd Hav, J L ad a L, t a-

d ad t d d maa. W t m pp

and prognosis to risk-based pricing and adjustable rate mortgages,

m pa t at , m jdmt ad -tq t ad aa. W mv t t p-


15/28

introduction 5

ta t ad t pat aa, m t-

ap t tmpa aa t. t xpa

t . Itad, at a dat v t v-

ta at t m a a t-ppa

pt ad xamat f tat pt t patd

tmpa at aa , pmtt ad a

ta aat ad v t ta qt, t t t.

W mt aa aat ad m a t a

aware o the historico- philosophical status o the term crisis, this

book indicates that the lines drawn between academic and popular

aat a t a d a pmd. attmpt

t a, at at t, t . It d ptt paacademic analyses o nancial crisis and so-called popular accounts

aa . I 20079, a t d t

am tat t d t a z aadm aa,

dd mt, t, pta tt, ta, ad

atpt, a attmpt t xpa t . It -

spired a host of journalistic and novelistic accounts o the nancial

crisis o 20079. A cross-reading o these literatures gives insight

t t ta at t aa m -dm , tt, tat dad t, dpt t mta -

tt aatv tat a ad m t dzz vat

at (L 2012). Idd, t v dtt t xpt ad

a ta jt pt tat a t ta. W,

ta, d da t t xpt ad ap, aa-

demics and commoners? Accountants and corporate managers are

t a aadm mt, t a t dd ap-

sons with respect to nancial analysis? Are lawyers, engineers, and

matmata pvat aa m aat

to be considered laypersons in contrast to academic economists and -

nancial analysts? Are economic anthropologists housed in universities

ap at t t a m dpatmt?

O mt p tat t a ap a t d mt-

a, t av d p. Bt v , t da

da t aadm ad a mt ad. I -at, a atd aat a atp t tm-


16/28

6introduction

porary, Paul Rabinow explains and illustrates the mode o adjacency

necessary to anthropological inquiry, the goal o which is identiying,

dtad, ad mat mt ata neither by directly

identiying with it nor by making it exotic (2008, 49, my emphasis).

He notes the disjuncture between those authorized to pronounce

pptv p at ad t a tt, t a,

aa aat ad jat, t ad, ad m,

on the other. And he concludes (79): Thus, while many o the serious

speech acts about the moral landscape are produced by actors who are

tv at t pt, t atpt a appa

t d ad pat t a t. t, p-

losophers, ethicists, scientists, and the like can thus qualiy or in-clusion in the category that used to be called natives. While the

pt t ad atpa d t pa-

titioners o crisis analysis, it takes its cue rom Rabinows sense o

untimely work. I suspend judgment about expert claims to crisis

so as to see how those very (expert) claims and (lay) accession to

those claims serve not radical change, as expected with crisis, but

rather the armation of long-standing principles, thereby preclud-

ing certain thoughts and acts, such as the outright reutation o thevery idea o oreclosure a a ma vad pt ad at.

ta t t tap t pt ad -

t tptat at a t pm mta

, xavat t ptma a ta am (t

) ad t p t am d ta tp

o action or practice (devaluation, oreclosure) and not others (human

ptt-a ad m, t da t v t t

tm ad aa). I tat a, t t

t t ppd v (Ra 2008, 47) t

producing everish crisis pronouncements, urgent crisis analyses,

and clamorous crisis pamphletsout o step with those seeking to

maa vm t .

Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama attempt to inaugurate ta tm t t t pt . -


17/28

introduction 7

dmptv ad tpa qat t ta aat pa t

t matv ad ta at t pt , ,

ta t t d t t ma ad tq,

td a t d tamatv at, a

mad a .

at t a vd a a

historical conceptas both a particular entry point into history and as

a ma t va ta ttma a ptd

a t t. I t d, t a , t

ta t mmat t a at, v a t tm

tat a t v aat t. d

t pt a aat ad t t-tt ad aat f t tf t t t at Gma

ta Rat K, at pap t pta

history o crisis, which thus serves as the authoritative historiography.

I t dta t apt tat , K pvd

a tat t tmpazat f t, t m

t a a tmpa at. H attt t m t

at f t a a tmpat t t mtat dpamt

o the term crisis, arguing that, by the end o the eighteenth century, t a t am tat a jd t ma

o a diagnosis o time. Koselleck likewise maintains that both this

am ad t jdmt ta a p ta

a consciousness that posits history as a temporality upon which one can act.

F t ta , a t at t

a t; a, tat t; ad

crisis designates history as such. In this way, crisis achieves the

tat a t-ppa pt; t t ma

t atd, zd, mpdd, ad v ptd.

I ta Rat K maa pta t

t datv t pat t pt . H at

how crisis achieves status as a historico-philosophical concept like-

tat t pat t pm , t v

a set of interlocking determinations: what counts as an event, the

tat a vt, t qaat f t t, ad t a narration. I reer to Kosellecks conceptual history on two registers: as


18/28

8introduction

t tdx tap t tm ad a a at tat, t,

pata a vta pat f tap, pp-

p ta at t a a vt ad pm a t at a

be narratedor the means to distinguish between a properly histori-

a at at ad a ta ata att-

a at (Wt 2002, x). L d t t qt

t t K d t m f ta

t aat, I d tad t qt

ohow the term crisis is positedas undamental to this very idea o

ta ad t a mtap f t. pt

t tat a m a ttd a aat; m

am t a qt at t tat t pt a ad tm t aat t p t

the ultimate locus o signicance and the ontological status of histori-

a tmpat ta atd. I t pat, a a

m K, d a jdmt: jd tm tm

o analogous intervals and judging history in terms of its signicance.

Bt t qa v xptat d-mmat jt, t

at tat t t tmat m f jdmt. I a -

pd K ad t ptt t qt t m, a : at t d p jdmt?

B a p, I d t m tq tat a -

a dd aat. Ctq ad a -

at, a Rat K (1988) md : t a

a ad ta t. B d t t at (tq), t

pt dt t pva ad a pa tat

t d aatd tm f t pptat d

pv a da t ta vt ad ptat

t vt. C-am v a ma dmad a d

t t pat ad t t. d -am v t p-

t m f ta jtvt, tap t d-

terminations o the limits o reason and knowledge. That is, crisis,

or the disclosure o epistemological limits, occasions critique. This

d (tmpa) d dd a ad d

as a moral task or an ethical demand, being based on a perceiveddpa t at ad a, ta dvpmt ad


19/28

introduction 9

ma pt, d ad ma tt, tttd at-

gories and epistemological limits, or a critical consciousness o the

pt tat aa. N matt t qat, t dpa ta

t a apa; t ta t ma a pt .

d a a, t p ad t v app f t

a dd t atv pat a mmat d: what

went wrong? For critical historical consciousnessor the specic,

ta a f t d a tta -

cance is discerned in terms o epistemological or ethical ailure. With-

out an inviolate transcendental realmGod, reason, truthrom

which to signiy human history, or because observation takes place

m t mma, tv am a atv pat t mmat d.

B xavat t tm t tq-ad- at,

ma t -ttt, I p t da attt t t ma

by which crisis serves as a distinction or transcendental placeholder in

t pat a mmat d. I t d f Wam Ra

(2002, 20), pd Na Lma, I a d dp-

t pat ad at t att a a t a

at t att Gd, t m t ta-dental placeholder.11 As we will see below, crisis serves as a transcen-

dta pad a t a ma t;

t a tm tat ad a t t t t.

t d t t tm , Ra pt m pt d-

parture clearly: I . . . moral codes (commandments), Holy Scripture,

papa ad a dt, ad t v ppt ad va

dv dt vd t tadt am, t at

become historicized and seen as socially constructed artiacts, the

task o reclaiming authority must be negotiated within the domain

a mma tat a d m t tadt a-

a. d a t , t t d t. How that other-

wise is to be thoughtm t qa-tadta ta a m-

ma t t t t (Ra 2000, 130, m mpa).

pt a t t t t. d

a a tm tat v t pat v ppd dtadt, at, t a dtt tat tad pp-


20/28

10introduction

t ad dtm. , t dat at-:

t t v , t a vd

empirically; rather, crisis is a logical observation that generates mean-

a -ta tm, a - m t

t ad paadx. d t jdmt a

a post hoc interrogation: what went wrong? Crisis is posited as an

a p; t d d a t qtd

mad xpt. d tmpa aatv d

t qt: H a know t? d a

know t ?

Crisis is a historical super concept (Oberbegrife) (Koselleck 2006,

392) that, to my mind, raises questions rather than acilitating an-

swers. I crisis denotes a critical, decisive moment, or a turning point,

d t t mp a ta pp f t? d at d t

ta t pt t v da tat ma tt a a tat

o crisis? Moreover, when crisis is posited as the very condition o

tmpa tat, t t t a tat ta qt -

m p t a d? xp tqt.

d , ma a t v t ax ta a-

at. t vat: v aadm ad

nonacademic observers themselves observe economic and nancial

at, t ma ad ta, t at, d, ad -

tpt a av pdd . W v, t, t d pt

d-d vat. v, t t v t pa-

tice o crisis in contemporary narrations o the 20079 nancial

crisis, we see how accession to crisis engenders certain narrations

ad t t tm a ad va d q-

t. t v a t t aatv aa

, I am t t ta t atv vat t a-

t; I am t ttd t t ta pptd x-

paat t a m ta. t I d x-

p qt at t t pdt va ad , ad tstatus o subprime and houses, I do so only insoar as these terms


21/28

introduction 11

ttt t amma aa aatv. pt t

ad t aatv t t dtm t t a t d-

p t t ta t t t t aa.

pt t dmtat t tm ta t -

dt p t ad t dat t a d pt

a aatv tt.

W t ta a j t a d-a aa f tp-

tat, a am a pata tadt: a m,

-Ka, -axt, ta td, ad ta m.

pd m t qt, at t ? a -

, , t, a, a . . . av t at

, a tm tat ptd tt qt dt. tdmtat dvat m t pp f t ad dt-

tions in human knowledge and practicethe discrepancy between

t d ad ma d t d. C a p-

ptd va am t t a, t ad, ad

what is variously portrayed in the accounts reviewed below as cti-

t, , a a dpat m t a, t t.

The chasm signies a supposed dissonance between empirical his-

t ad a pp f tt t dd matava, t ad, ad ptta jdmt ad vaat,

on the other.1 What is at issue is our alienation rom history and

the potential or revelation o true value and the true signicance

vt dmpt, mapat, dva. I a: a

we claim to represent that chasm? What is the basis o a claim to

know the locus o our alienation rom underlying value, rom ma-

ta va, m a va, m tt va?

To conclude this expedition over the terrain o crisis narration, I

pt a t pata pamat qt t t aatv tat I

v : W d a dt (at) m a dt (tx at)?

H d dt t m m t att? At what pointd

d a qt m d a a dt? At what pointd

pm mta d tam m a at t a at? d

t tmat qt: W d t jdmt ta? W

see, by putting these questions to contemporary crisis narratives, howcrisis, in itsel, cannot be located or observed as an object o rst-


22/28

12introduction

order knowledge. The observation money is a rst-order observa-

t ad a dtt (m/t m); t tatmt I t

m Lt m a a d-d vat.

t-d vat (m) d t dat t dtt

(money/not money) was made; and the distinction (how the obser-

vat a mad) a t jt a d-d va-

t. Bt ta t a a dtt, a a d-d

pat, d t amt t d . The point is to take note

o the eects o the claim to crisis, to be attentive to the eects o our very

accession to that judgment. C d ta m tq,

ptz tt p. a pt . Wd t

, f t tv tad, d t m tq xt-ing relations and practices, but rather occasion the reorganization and

transormation o the very boundary between the economic and

the political, and, more signicant, the transormation o the very in-

telligibilityo constitutive terms, such as debt, liquidity, and risk?

I am a a pt dpat, ma d a

pt . W a a, t Op Wa Stt mv-

ment, who should bear the burden o ading prosperity? But other

tttv qt, atd t t pdt tv pat,ma atatd, a, dd dt m t d a a

at a t t pa?

a t att qt, I t t t td t p-

duction o value through market devices and nancial inrastructures

tat p t at t ecacy o economic and fnancial prac-

tices, ta t pdt vafgured as debt. H, -

tad aa d t ata pat, pt t,

erroneous policy, aulty regulation, deective models, missed ore-

casting, or systemic ailure and underlying contradictions, we have

an accounting o specic practices and the production o positiveor,

tt, patad, tat t am t m

a pata (pta) t t at dad a pm -

ta dma f . a vat t pdt -

nomic and nancial value without positing crisis help us to grasp how

a am at vaat ta a jdmt atva. Bt at at ta a dtt atatv


23/28

introduction 13

aat a a t d t pvd vd aat X at

a t pv am Y at . I tat ,

m t t t at a tt xpmt: t x x-

p t d aatv tt , t t a t at-

atv xpaat a t t jt. t, t

tt xpmt pd t pm ma

or the belie that there is a discrepancy between history and repre-

tat f ta a t a t pt aat

t t. Bt I at t d tat tq ad

a at, ad at t t attt t m

tq dd aatv. W tat t m

tq t ampt at at t mat a shouldt ad t at jt at

dvat m t mat aa va pdd;

t d t at t a tat va pdd t

t pa. I t d, ptd a a a p, t -

vat at positive, pragmaticpa aatv pt. I

t a t pt aatv ad xp

possible, alternative narratives about houses and their worth might be

atd tt t a (B 1991, 12),tt tt a pt aatv dat pt

jdmt dvat ad a.

Ultimately, I invite the reader to put less aith in crisis, which

ma a at at ta t -ad--t. C

a tm tat d p t pdamt ma -

t, t v a a tadta pad t -

t t tat pm. I tat , t tm v a a p-

mary enabling blind spot or the production of knowledge. That is,

a pt v, a vat, tf t vd

vd. I appd t pt t t mtap

a d pt a t appd a a vat tat, a

vat t, d t at t v dt

of its observation.1 Consequentially, making that blind spot visible

ma a qt at pd a -

v. t at, t ma a at pd t. tmt, t ma a mt tt at tt d-


24/28

14introduction

cerning historical signicance in terms o ethical ailure. Thus we

mt a: at d aatv d pdd ma

t v a pm? a t tat qt, matt

mpa, a , q, a a t, aa

tp, dat t a , a a a d

pt t pdt f d, ta mtt ad t

mpt jdmt at at, ad a tat mt

adatd ad, vdt p, vm.


25/28

notes

introduction: what is at stake?

1. The various NormalcyNever Again drats, the nal text penned by Martin

Luther King Jr., and conjecture about his reasons or deviating rom the pre-

pared speech can be ound in Hansen 2005.

2. Transcript: Barack Obamas Inaugural Address, delivered January 20, 2009,

Washington, DC, accessed January 20, 2009, http://ww.npr.org/templates/story>php?storyld=99590481&ps=cprs.

3. This book is not intended as an exhaustive account o the social science litera-

ture and will be primarily concerned with contemporary narrations o nan-

cial crisis.

4. Starn (1971) and Beckett (2008) undertake two helpul reviews o the term

crisis. Starn considers the epistemological status o crisis in the tradition

of Western academic historiography. Beckett shows how crisis has been the-

matized in Haiti in relation to a wider discursive eld in which the notion o

decline is dependent upon ideas o progress held to obtain outside o Haiti,most notably in the global North. See also Parrochia 2008 and Shank 2008,

both o which review the concept o crisis or social science theory and his-

torical studies, respectively.

5. Reerencing this bibliography would take up an inordinate amount o space,

as would the notation o recent conerences dedicated to explaining the

crisis, impulsively staged by universities, think tanks, and periodicals. The

extensive bibliography on contemporary fnancial crisis is reerenced below.

For a ascinating screen- based art installation on the term crisis, which uses

live news eeds, data processing, and typographical imagery to visualize howthe replication o the term generatesand does not merely reecta particu-


26/28

98notes to introduction

lar situation, see Katie Levitts Poetical Crisis, http://katielevitt.wordpress.com

accessed March 25, 2008.

6. This project started with Arica in 2006. At that time, nancial crisis was not

my object o thought. The question I put to mysel was: how can one think

about Aricaor think Aricaotherwise than under the sign o crisis? AsI have written elsewhere (Roitman orthcoming), although the Arican con-

tinent is designated and conjured under the sign o crisis, this is not a diag-

nostic o a continent. It is a diagnostic of history as such. In the same way that

our contemporary history is qualied as humanitarian crisis, environmental

crisis, nancial crisis, et cetera, and is thus given ontological status as his-

tory through these terms, Arica is posited as an ontological category o

thought under the sign o crisis.

7. A ull bibliography o these literatures is noted below. I am using 20079

as an indicator, reerencing the fnancial crisis reerred to by Barack Obama,or what is sometimes more specifcally called the subprime mortgage crisis,

even though some o this literature was produced slightly beore or ater that

time period.

8. Rabinow is interested in designing inquiry. He does not take anthropology

to be ethnography understood as a practice developed to analyze a specic

type o objectthe culture and/or society oethnoiso as to contribute to a

specic genre, the monograph (or journal article). Instead, the practice o

anthropology entails the dynamic and mutually constitutive, i partial . . . ,

connections between gures oanthropos and the diverse, and at times incon-sistent, branches of knowledge available during a period o time; that claim

authority about the truth o the matter; and whose legitimacy to make such

claims is accepted as plausible by other such claimants; as well as the power

relations within which and through which those claims are produced, estab-

lished, contested, deeated, armed, and disseminated (2008, 4). It should

be noted that Rabinow reers to a disjuncture between the moral landscape

inhabited in daily lie and the moral landscape as reected upon by those

authorized to pronounce prescriptive speech acts about it (2008, 79). How-

ever, he also underscores the complex subject positions of his natives, suchas molecular biologists working on genome mapping who are likewise prac-

ticing Christians or scientists o a molecular science laboratory who hold cre-

dence in the category o race. The object of inquiry is the ethical practices

entailed by such lives. And in the process o that inquiry, one is adjacent to

both the universal intellectual typical to the academy and the specic intel-

lectual, who inhabits expert worlds (see 3350). C. Rabinow 2003.

9. This statement summarizes various ways o construing the possibility or and

aims o critique, which are spelled out with reerence to specic scholars, in

chapter 1.10. See Rasch 2000 and 2002.


27/28

notes to introduction 99

11. For Luhmann, this necessarily contingent world is signied by the term

modernity. Though characterized by the loss o an outside, or loss o an

outside reerence point, Luhmann does not see this situation o necessary

contingency as a problem, or a loss to be lamented or condemned. C. Luh-

mann [1992] 1998, 2002; and Rasch 2000. Though he does not consider theterm crisis, my thinking is inspired by the work o Niklas Luhmann, dis-

cussed below.

12. This statement smacks o an idealist or constructivist position, which states

that there is no knowledge-independent reality. See 3739 o this book or

clarication. In particular, at least or my rendering o crisis as a logical ob-

servation, see Luhmann 1990a; Christis 2001; and Rasch 2012. But more

generally, c. Rorty 1979; Bernstein 1983; Hacking 1999; Latour 2003; and

Meillassoux 2008, among others.

13. The concept o a philosophy of history denotes the process necessary or thenarration o the passage o time as history, which abides a selection principle

that distinguishes between reality and an account o reality. See 2231 o this

book; and reer to White 1973 and Munz 1977.

14. This notion o observation, inspired by Luhmann, is developed below. In a re-

view o the inuence o Spencer Brown and Foerster on Luhmann, Jac Chris-

tis (2001, 334) states this quite plainly: So, on the rst level, observers simply

observe (a table). No observer can observe how he observes (the distinction

between table and chair) at the same time as he observes what he observes.

Only in a second-order observation can we indicate the distinction used in afrst-order observation. This obviously means that the how o a frst-order ob-

servation becomes the what o a second-order observation. See also Fuchs

1996, 323, cited by Christis. Luhmanns point is not that all rst-order opera-

tions are empirical, as in a radical empiricists view. Observation is a matter o

undamental contingency: Observation is any kind o operation that makes

a distinction so as to designate one (but not the other) side. Such a denition

is itsel contingent, since what is dened would have another meaning given

another distinction (1998, 47). The real is what is practiced as a distinction

(see chapter 1, 3739) and the contingent nature o rst-order operations isnot problematic; one can note, quite simply, that any rst-order observation

can be qualied as contingent by a second-order observer, ad innitum.

15. The mere act o posing these questions is a orm o critique insoar as the

ormulation o a question potentially posits the possible limits of knowledge.

Though not ocusing on that elusive category power, I nonetheless take up

Judith Butlers question (2002, 214): What is the relation of knowledge to

power such that our epistemological certainties turn out to support a way o

structuring the world that orecloses alternative possibilities o ordering? In

that sense, my practice o critique ollows in the steps o Michel Foucault andJudith Butler, as presented below. But, as we will see below, or both Foucault


28/28

100notes to chapter 1

and Butler, as or others, this orm o critique entails or even necessitates

crisis. So while not against this practice o critique, I am noting how it posits

crisis as an a priori. See 34, this book.

16. David Bloors expression is apt or my own project; his concern, however,

is the sociology of knowledge (Bloor 1991, 2001). For debate over his posi-tion, see the exchange between Bloor and Latour: Bloor 1999a, 1999b; Latour

1999a.

17. The very possibility o observation presupposes conditions o observation,

which themselves are not observable. All observations or points o view entail

blind spots, insoar as there can never be an observation, cognition, or knowl-

edge o a totality. In that sense, all observations, cognitions, or points o view

have blind spots, which, when made visible rom another perspective, are re-

produced ad innitum.

18. In his reective essay on Husserls Crisis of the European Sciences ([1954] 1970),James Dodd (2004, 19) notes similar questions, though with the aim, ol-

lowing Husserl, to show that science itsel would not be possible without a

human understanding o the world as a problem, or experienced as ailure.

1. crisis demands

1. I use the plural (histories) to underscore the heterogeneity o any possible

genealogy. With respect to Kosellecks particular historiography, see Davis

2008 and note 28 in this chapter. Many thanks to Gil Anidjar or reerringme to her work.

2. See the eight-volume work edited by Brunner, Conze, and Koselleck (1972

97). Kosellecks extensive writing on this subject and on the ultimate question

o the emergence oNeuzeit(the modern age, modernity) as a historical con-

cept has been commented on at length. I will not reappraise his body o work

or contribute to the secondary literature. For brie reviews, c. Tribe 1989

and Richter 1990. The main body o Kosellecks work in English includes

Koselleck 1988 [original German 1959], 2002, 2004 [original German 1979].

While beyond the scope o this essay, one might note the inuence o Hegel,Husserl, Gadamer, Schmitt, and Heidegger on Koselleck with respect to his

hermeneutic approach and the presence o the uture, all o which can be

explored in, or example, Tribe 1989; Homeyer 1994; Palonen 1999; Palti

2010. See also Blumenberg 1997 and 2010.

3. This is a simplied presentation o Kosellecks portrayal o the mutually con-

stituted possibilities o past, present, and uture; and the extent to which the

lived present is necessarily a ormer uture, all o which indicates the inu-

ence o Heidegger on Kosellecks thinking, especially as presented in the pub-

lication Futures Past. See Carr 1987.4. Koselleck goes so ar as to assert that crisis is necessary or the art o progno-

anti-crisis by janet roitman

Documents