The Politics of Not Speaking

by Elad Lapidot

Overview

In contrast to the common understanding of politics as a domain of speaking, reveals an alternative tradition where the spoken word fails, collapses, breaks (i.e., a politics of not speaking).

According to a common conception, modern politics is based on speaking, on discussion and rational argumentation—on "logos." In contrast, The Politics of Not Speaking argues that politics is based not on speaking but on the suspension of conversation, on the break of rational discourse, on "logoclasm"—on politics of not speaking. Elad Lapidot presents the notion of politics as logoclasm through readings of five canonic thinkers of the twentieth century: Carl Schmitt, Martin Heidegger, Frantz Fanon, Gayatri Spivak, and Jacques Derrida. Tracing the development of the politics of not speaking from the 1930s to the 1990s, he shows how the notion of logoclasm, the rupture of rational discussion, explains key notions in modern politics, such as sovereignty, law, the state, violence, war, race, colonialism, decolonization, and boycott, and sheds light on current debates concerning the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and the Gaza war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798855801132
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	08/02/2025
Pages:	129
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Elad Lapidot is Professor of Jewish Thought at the University of Lille, France. He is the author of Jews Out of the Question: A Critique of Anti—Anti—Semitism, also published by SUNY Press.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. Politics as Break of Logos: Carl Schmitt

2. Dialogue as Violence: Martin Heidegger

3. Decolonialism as Logoclasm: Frantz Fanon

Corollary I: On BDS: On the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement

4. Can't Speak: Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak

5. No One Language: Jacques Derrida

Corollary II: On Jewish—Christian Dialogue

Not Last Words

Notes
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"…the text is pleasantly reader friendly. It will appeal to anyone interested in key notions of modern politics, such as law, sovereignty, race, the state, and imperialism." — CHOICE

"There are many books on the decolonial perspective but The Politics of Not Speaking stands out in its innovative approach to decolonialism as the politics of not speaking, based on the deliberative logoclastic crisis. Originating in talks centered around close readings of Schmitt, Heidegger, Fanon, Spivak, and Derrida, the highly accessible style makes this a useful text for undergraduate and graduate courses on decolonialism and political theology, among others." — Agata Bielik—Robson, author of Derrida's Marrano Passover: Exile, Survival, and the Metaphysics of Non—Identity

From the Publisher