\n
“A common misreading of poststructuralist theory\u2014that it deprives us of the power to choose\u2014is another instance of binary thinking. If the subject is an effect of meaning, if we are not the free, unconstrained origin of our own beliefs and values, if knowledge can\u2019t be relied on, if mastery is an illusion, so the story goes, we cannot regard ourselves as agents in our own lives.<\/p>\n
<\/span>This is not how most poststructuralist thinkers have argued, however. Deconstruction indicates, on the contrary, that meanings, values, and what we (think we) know are all open to pressure for change. Psychoanalysis, meanwhile, sees unconscious desire as defying the values that culture proposes as proper objectives. Foucault also stresses the possibility of resistance\u2014on the basis that power is always authority over something or someone capable of disobeying. (No one, as far as I know, claims sovereignty over turnips.)<\/p>\nIn sum, Foucault\u2019s model of social relations is unstable, mobile, transferable: the assumptions that reinforce power can be reversed to undermine it. Derrida\u2019s philosophy, although it removes certainty, still requires choice and responsibility, ethical and political. Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Lyotard argues against bland consensus. Gilles Deleuze and Alain Badiou, while distancing themselves in some respects from poststructuralism, draw in\u00a0<\/span><\/span>different ways on its insights to put forward radical views. Both assume that we take sides.<\/p>\nResponsibility<\/h4>\n
Much of Derrida\u2019s later work has been concerned with ethics, the problem of right action in a world without foundational truths as grounds for choice. Religions, in contrast, depend on such grounding. They determine what we ought to do by appealing in the last instance to the will of God, as revealed to priests or prophets. The will of God is in this sense taken as universal and ultimate, a pure and absolute reality beyond which human enquiry cannot hope to go. Secular beliefs might well find another ultimate reality to occupy the same structural position of authority: reason, for example, or the moral law, or perhaps the laws of nature. Such metaphysical values are taken as the ultimate foundations on which all other values depend.<\/p>\n
<\/span>But if values are shaped by language, and language divides the world differently from culture to culture, there can be no appeal to a universal, grounding reality. The will of God might or might not exist but, as history has shown, it seems in practice to be a site of considerable struggle, since both sides in a conflict commonly claim it for their cause. Something similar goes for reason and nature. They are often cited, in the event, as supporting opposite points of view: right and left, feminist and anti-feminist, queer and homophobic, white supremacist and anti-racist.<\/p>\n<\/span>Can there be, then, an ethics of deconstruction, an ethics without metaphysics? Derrida\u2019s own work is sceptical and yet, he insists, \u2018affirmative\u2019. On the one hand, the element of the other in the selfsame\u2014the difference within cultures, languages, subjects\u2014undermines both totalitarianism and nationalism, as well as all other attempts to bring societies or groups into line with a single identity. On the other hand, Derrida argues, it does not do away with the responsibility to take account of the existing differences.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Values not only have a history; they also differ from themselves. They can therefore be modified, if not in the light of a fixed idea of the good, at least in the hope of realizing, one day, the trace of an alternative that also informs them. Derrida calls this way of thinking \u2018messianicity\u2019: not the promise of a specific messiah, who would fulfil an individual scripture, Christian, say, or Jewish, but the expectation of a different future \u2018to come\u2019 (avenir<\/i>\u00a0\u00e0 venir<\/i>).”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Belsey, C. (2022). Poststructuralism: A very short introduction (Second edition). Oxford University Press. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/actrade\/9780198859963.001.0001 —- Chapter 6: Dissent “A common misreading of poststructuralist theory\u2014that it deprives us of the power to choose\u2014is another instance of binary thinking. If the subject is an effect of meaning, if we are not the free, unconstrained origin of our … Continue reading Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction, Catherine Belsey | Quote<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[716],"tags":[850,849],"class_list":["post-7275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quote","tag-catherine-belsey","tag-poststructuralism"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9WYIs-1Tl","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6937,"url":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/27\/how-chatgpt-o3-finds-all-the-books-published-in-oxford-university-press-a-very-short-introduction-series-in-june-27-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":7275,"position":0},"title":"how chatgpt o3 finds (?) all the books published in oxford university press’ ‘a very short introduction’ series in june 27, 2025","author":"yalpertem","date":"27 June 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"it's my first attempt at llm-archive experiments. it's not much, but it's honest fieldwork. even a short story. as you see, both i and chatgippity have skill issues. Prompt: list all the books with the author names that are published in Oxford University Press' \"Very Short Introduction\" series. --- Thinking:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ai"","block_context":{"text":"ai","link":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/category\/ai\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/o3-very-short-intro-1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/o3-very-short-intro-1.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/o3-very-short-intro-1.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7292,"url":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/01\/my-2024-books\/","url_meta":{"origin":7275,"position":1},"title":"my 2024 books","author":"yalpertem","date":"1 January 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Aydemir, F. (Ed.). (2022). Your homeland is our nightmare: An antifascist essay collection (1. edition). Literarische Diverse Verlag. Bell, K. (2024). Dip Ak\u0131nt\u0131lar\u0131. Siren Yay\u0131nlar\u0131. Braiker, H. B. (2001). The disease to please: Curing the people-pleasing syndrome. McGraw-Hill. Butler, J. (2020). The force of nonviolence: An ethico-political bind. Verso. Cook,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "list"","block_context":{"text":"list","link":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/category\/list\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5750,"url":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/2022\/12\/26\/book-lists-by-chatgpt\/","url_meta":{"origin":7275,"position":2},"title":"book lists by chatgpt I","author":"yalpertem","date":"26 December 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Cultural Studies Book Title Author Year Description The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture Theodor W. Adorno 1981 a collection of essays that offers a influential critique of mass culture and its effects on society. The Uses of Literacy Richard Hoggart 1957 an influential analysis of the role of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "list"","block_context":{"text":"list","link":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/category\/list\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":478,"url":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/14\/gilles-deleuze-kaynakca\/","url_meta":{"origin":7275,"position":3},"title":"Gilles Deleuze – Kaynak\u00e7a","author":"yalpertem","date":"14 November 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Birincil Kaynaklar (Kitap) Empirisme et subjectivit\u00e9 (1953) [Ampirizm ve \u00d6znellik] Nietzsche et la philosophie (1962) [Nietzsche ve Felsefe] La philosophie critique de Kant (1963) [Kant \u00dczerine D\u00f6rt Ders ||\u00a0Kant'\u0131n Ele\u015ftirel\/Ele\u015ftiri Felsefesi] Proust et les signes (1964, 2. 1976) [Proust ve G\u00f6stergeler] Le Bergsonisme (1966) [Bergsonculuk] Pr\u00e9sentation de Sacher-Masoch (1967) [Sacher-Masoch\u2019un\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "okuma listesi"","block_context":{"text":"okuma listesi","link":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/category\/okuma-listesi\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":372,"url":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/18\/kulturel-calismalar-okuma-listesi\/","url_meta":{"origin":7275,"position":4},"title":"K\u00fclt\u00fcrel \u00c7al\u0131\u015fmalar Okuma Listesi","author":"yalpertem","date":"18 October 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"[Umar\u0131m, zamanla geli\u015fip, kategorilere ayr\u0131l\u0131r, detayland\u0131r\u0131l\u0131r.] Influences Mikhail Bakhtin,\u00a0The Dialogic Imagination E. P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class Howard S. Becker, Outsiders: Studies In The Sociology Of Deviance Michel de Certeau,\u00a0The Practice of Everyday Life Henri Lefebvre,\u00a0Critique of Everyday Life Antonio Gramsci, Prison Notebooks James C. Scott,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "okuma listesi"","block_context":{"text":"okuma listesi","link":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/category\/okuma-listesi\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6000,"url":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/13\/music-a-subversive-history-ted-gioia-quote-from-the-epilogue\/","url_meta":{"origin":7275,"position":5},"title":"Music: A Subversive History, Ted Gioia | quote from the epilogue","author":"yalpertem","date":"13 April 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I hadn't read books specifically on music before, maybe one or two loosely-knit ones. Lately I got interested in and affected by music. One day I found myself searching for music books with an introduction-level history. I thought of listening to an audiobook so that I can daydream while walking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/ted-gioia-music-a-subversive-history-300x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7275"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7277,"href":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7275\/revisions\/7277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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