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Experimenting with Refrains: Subjectivity and the Challenge of Escaping Modern Dualism

2008; Palgrave Macmillan; Volume: 22; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1057/sub.2008.6

1755-635X

Isabelle Stengers,

Foucault, Power, and Ethics

The attempt is made to address the question of the “production of subjectivity” in relation to those who refer to such productions – that is, the imagined reader of this journal. The envisaged challenge is that of escaping the web of conflicting definitions, which Latour has connected with the “invincibility of the moderns”, of fabricating a “line of flight”, which does not denounce, but rather reveals, makes perceptible, the special power of the modern territory. An important step, introduced by William James, is to abandon epistemological questions in favour of the care and concern demanded by that which is “coming into existence”, and by its milieu, which may nurture or poison it. Poisoning is easy but nurturing is a craft, the neglect of which may be understood in relation to our vulnerability to capitalism. The concept of taking seriously the need to reclaim this craft is developed with the help of neo-pagan witch Starhawk.