G4 Doctoral dissertation (monograph)
Politics as activity : praxis, poiēsis, and beyond in the work of Giorgio Agamben (2023)
Politiikka aktiviteettina : praxis, poiēsis ja eleellisyys Giorgio Agambenin ajattelussa

Sjöblom, K. (2023). Politics as activity : praxis, poiēsis, and beyond in the work of Giorgio Agamben [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Jyväskylä. JYU dissertations, 698. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-9746-5

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Sjöblom, Katarina

eISBN: 978-951-39-9746-5

Journal or series: JYU dissertations

eISSN: 2489-9003

Publication year: 2023

Number in series: 698

Number of pages in the book: 1 verkkoaineisto (144 sivua)

Publisher: University of Jyväskylä

Publication country: Finland

Publication language: English

Persistent website address: https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-9746-5

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Abstract

The dissertation investigates what politics is as an activity. The background of this exploration is in the classical Greek distinction between praxis and poiēsis, action and production, which still influences the Western understanding of politics. More specifically, and with a focus on late modern and contemporary political thought, the study explores whether political action might transcend this classical framework. This situates the thesis in the context of theoretical debates from the last few decades that address the problematic status of Western politics. Politics has been perceived to be threatened, for instance, by economic rationalities or ethical principles; overall, this literature concerns the process of rethinking and reinvigorating politics of ‘the political.’ This study contributes to these debates by focusing on politics as an activity. In this task, the point of departure is Giorgio Agamben’s claim that his politics of gesture implies a type of activity that is different from both praxis and poiēsis. Exploring this claim in more detail, the dissertation comprises engagements with Agamben’s key interlocutors, Alexandre Kojève and Hannah Arendt, who are approached as paradigmatic examples of poietic and practical conceptions of politics in this study. The main argument of this study is that Agamben’s alternative type of action is best understood as an activity performed on the other two paradigms. Politics is neither praxis nor poiēsis in their pure forms; rather, both types of activity include their other and depend on this alterity. This finding is further interpreted by addressing Agamben’s concept of gesture in the context of the theories of performativity developed by J.L. Austin, Jacques Derrida, and Judith Butler. The study concludes with a discussion of how the findings of this study could be applied beyond the action-production framework, such as in analyses of contemporary forms of identity politics.

Keywords: politics; political activity; activity (properties); action; producing; political thought; political philosophy; doctoral dissertations

Free keywords: gesture; praxis; poiēsis; political action; political activity

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2023