Karen Barad and the Unresolved Challenge of Collectivity: A Case for New Materialisms.
Journal
Technophany, A Journal for Philosophy and Technology
ISSN
2773-0875
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2023-08-22
Author(s)
Abstract
In this paper, I start by pointing out that despite their differences, Slavoj Žižek and Karen Barad share an understanding of the notions of relationality, processuality, and immanence as central tenets of materialist philosophy. As I argue, however, it is collectivity that acts in both Žižek’s and Barad’s works as a safety valve that lends immanence, processuality, and relationality their materialist quality. To support this argument, I demonstrate that certain forms of collectivity underlie the passage from Werner Heisenberg’s uncertainty to Niels Bohr’s indeterminacy in Barad’s interpretation of Bohr’s ‘philosophy-physics’. However, I claim that there is a further form of collectivity, which I call ‘collectivity as inclusive and holistic overdetermination’, that Barad overlooks and that conditions the indeterminability of indeterminacy. As I argue, the latter also has implications for political agency. I conclude by briefly sketching out how these forms of collectivity can determine the production of subjectivity and, as a consequence, shape the subject’s collective action.
Language
English (United States)
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Volume
2
Number
q
Start page
1
End page
21
Pages
21
Division(s)
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
Telios_Karen Barad and the Unresolved Challenge of Collectivity_A Case for New Materialisms.pdf
Size
315.5 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
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