SECULARISMO BRASILEIRO À LUZ DAS CATEGORIAS DE "INJÚRIA" E "INTOLERÂNCIA RELIGIOSA"

O propósito neste texto é identificar a especificidade brasileira do problema clássico da “intolerância religiosa”, a partir dos casos locais tais como o não reconhecimento das práticas afro como religiosas pelo campo jurídico. Quando comparados às tensões provocadas pela presença islâmica na Europa analisadas por Saba Mahmood é possível compreender porque a neutralidade estatal se torna o lugar do silenciamento jurídico da intolerância religiosa no Brasil.

Genealogy, Ideology, and Critical Theory

This chapter examines the Genealogical-Ideological Method for interrogating the category of religion and unmasking its complicity with capitalist market interests, racial and gender inequities, colonializing practices, and power. With these ideas in hand, the chapter examines representative works by Russell McCutcheon, Timothy Fitzgerald, and Saba Mahmood. In their works, it is argued, the problem of failing to provide justificatory arguments looms large. McCutcheon and Fitzgerald fail to see how the problems they espy in the study of religion apply to their way of thinking. Mahmood conceives of human agency as an outcome of repetitive bodily practices rather than as relying on reasons for action, thus denying her ways to understand human motivation in Islamic pietism and concealing the justificatory dimensions of the practices she describes in Politics of Piety. The chapter shows how problems in these approaches are symptomatic of difficulties surrounding the justificatory status of the study of religion.

postmodern Post-feminism without Women

This article aims at showing the way in which the discursive constructivism and ethical relativism characteristic of postmodern feminism and post-feminism leads to a neo-liberal and conservative political agenda that threatens women’s sex-based rights. The article will especially focus on the thought of Paul-B Preciado as a post-feminist activist. It draws a comparison also with the work of Saba Mahmood. In such a context, we will point out the necessity of a neo-material and realist framework able to account for the ontological reality of women, and their irreducibility to social hetero-norms. Keywords: Constructivism, nominalism, embodiment, sexual difference, human rights, materialism.

‘Uncovering the Self’: Religious Doubts, Spirituality and Unveiling in Egypt

Since the 1980s, discourse on religious piety has taken many different forms, from mosque lessons by lay preachers—such as `Amr Khalid—to religious TV programmes and leisure activities. Within this widespread religious culture and cultivation of forms of visible piety, wearing the veil became an almost uncontested norm for women. As Saba Mahmood demonstrated, the veil became a crucial way to express and cultivate a ‘pious self’. Yet especially since the 2011 revolution and its aftermath, many young Egyptians started to question political, religious and patriarchal authorities. Amongst others, this took on open or hidden forms of non-believing, as well as a search for new forms of spirituality. Based on fieldwork and interviews, this contribution looks into the motives and experiences of women who decided to cast off the veil. In view of the hegemonic piety discourse, this is a huge issue, which is met by fierce reactions and accusations of immorality and non-belief. Whereas for some women this decision is an expression of religious doubt or a turn to a non-religious worldview, for others it is a way to contest the current piety discourse in a search for a more personal and spiritual connection with God. While the relationship with religion among my interlocutors might differ, they share a common attempt to uncover their ‘authentic selves’. By unveiling, they express their wish to define their own space and ideas regarding religion, gender and their bodies.

“Ceder”: um instrumento para análise da ação

O presente artigo tem como objetivo propor um instrumento para a análise de certas ações e categorização de formas de agência que não têm necessariamente a resistência à norma como alvo inicial. Ainda durante a confecção de minha dissertação de mestrado (em que entrevistei três homens trans), me deparei com a declaração, de um de meus informantes, de que, em dadas circunstâncias da vida social, suas opções se resumiam a “lidar ou morrer”. Partindo, então, das noções de sujeito e reconhecimento em Judith Butler (2015, 2017), procuro aqui sugerir como algumas pessoas que nem sempre são reconhecidas dentro de determinados ambientes normativos, ainda assim exercem agência – através do que chamei de “ceder”. Para tanto, busco sustentação nas concepções de identidade de Stuart Hall (2005) e, novamente, Butler, bem como em noções de interação social (MEAD, 2018) e representação (GOFFMAN, 2002). Por fim, me valho do entendimento de agência de Saba Mahmood (2006) - um que expande a noção de agência para além da lógica de subordinação e subversão das normas, como presente no pensamento feminista pós-estruturalista.

Bolsonarismo: a necropolítica brasileira como pacto entre fascistas e neoliberais (Bolsonarism: Brazilian necropolitics as pact between fascists and neoliberals)

The text analyzes the changes and crises in the Brazilian political system and its consequences in civil society and scientific production with the victory of Bolsonaro in the 2018 elections. Based on the discussion of historical and recent elements, this article seeks to understand and debate the reasons and transformations in Brazilian society that formed the electoral intent that characterized Bolsonarism. It is shown that this movement is also responsible for one of the most dramatic periods in the country's political history. It ends by analyzing the rupture of Brazilian political stability, attacks on institutions, economic crisis and politicization of science under ideological attack through the pendulum narrowing of Bolsonarism with fascism.ResumoO texto analisa as mudanças e crises no sistema político brasileiro e suas consequências na sociedade civil e produção científica com a vitória de Bolsonaro nas eleições [presidenciais] de 2018. A partir da discussão de elementos históricos e recentes, este artigo busca compreender e debater as razões e transformações na sociedade brasileira que formaram o intento eleitoral que caracterizaram o Bolsonarismo. Mostra que este movimento é também responsável por um dos períodos mais dramáticos para a história política do país. Finaliza analisando a ruptura da estabilidade política brasileira, ataques às instituições, crise econômica e politização da ciência sob ataque ideológico por meio do pendular estreitamento do Bolsonarismo com o fascismo.ResumenEl texto analiza los cambios y las crisis en el sistema político brasileño y sus consecuencias en la sociedad civil y la producción científica con la victoria de Bolsonaro en las elecciones de 2018. Basado en la discusión de elementos históricos y recientes, este artículo busca comprender y debatir las razones y transformaciones en la sociedad brasileña que formó la intención electoral que caracterizó al Bolsonarismo. Muestra que este movimiento también es responsable de uno de los períodos más dramáticos en la historia política del país. Termina analizando la ruptura de la estabilidad política brasileña, los ataques a las instituciones, la crisis económica y la politización de la ciencia bajo un ataque ideológico a través del estrechamiento pendular del Bolsonarismo con el fascismo.Palavras-chave: Bolsonarismo, Ciência, Necropolítica, Neoliberalismo.Keywords: Bolsonarism, Science, Necropolitic, Neoliberalism.Palabras claves: Bolsonarismo, Ciencias, Necropolítica, Neoliberalismo.ReferencesADORNO, T. W. Educação após Auschwitz. In: ADORNO, Theodor W. Educação e Emancipação. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 1995. pp. 119-138.ADORNO, T. W. A teoria freudiana e o padrão de propaganda fascista. Margem Esquerda – ensaios marxistas. Boitempo Editorial, n. 7, 2006.AMARAL, N. C. PEC 241: a “morte” do PNE (2014-2024) e o poder de diminuição dos recursos educacionais. Revista Brasileira de Política e Administração da Educação. v. 32, n. 3, p. 653 - 673 set./dez. 2016.ANTUNES, R. Fenomenologia da crise brasileira. Lutas Sociais, São Paulo, vol.19 n.35, p.09-26, jul./dez. 2015.ARENDT, H. Origens do Totalitarismo. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras: 1989BRESSER-PEREIRA, L. C. A construção política do Brasil: sociedade, economia e Estado desde a Independência. São Paulo: Editora 34 Ltda., 2015BUTLER, J. Ideologia de anti-gênero e a crítica da era secular de Saba Mahmood. Debates do NER, v. 2, n. 36, 2019CROCHÍK, J. L. Nota sobre o texto “A teoria freudiana e o padrão da propaganda fascistas”, de T. W. Adorno. Margem Esquerda – ensaios marxistas. Boitempo Editorial, n. 7, 2006.DAWKINS, R. O Gene Egoísta., Belo Horizonte: Editora Itatiaia; São Paulo: Universidade da Universidade de São Paulo, 1978.DOWBOR, L. A era do capital improdutivo. São Paulo: Autonomia Literária e Outras Palavras, 2017.FARINELLI, V. Bolsonaro já cumpriu o que prometeu: temos 30 mil mortos. Opera Mundi, 02 jun. 2020. Disponível em https://bityli.com/cToWW Acesso em: 21 jun. 2020.FEITOSA, C. Pós-verdade e política. Revista Cult, 19 jul. 2017. Disponível em https://revistacult.uol.com.br/home/pos-verdade-e-politica/ Acesso em: 01 jun. 2020.LACLAU, E. On populist reason. Londres: Verso, 2005LÖWY, M. Da tragédia à farsa: o golpe de 2016 no Brasil. In: Por que gritamos golpe: para entender o impeachment e a crise. São Paulo: Boitempo, 1ª ed. 2016.MARX, K. Manuscritos econômico-filosóficos 4. reimp. São Paulo: Boitempo, 2010MBEMBE, A. Necropolíticas. Arte e ensaios. Edição nº 32 da Revista do PPGAV/EBA/UFRJ. Rio de Janeiro. Dezembro de 2016.NIETZSCHE, F. Genealogia da moral: Uma polêmica. 1 ed. São Paulo. Companhia das Letras, 2009.PAULANI, L. Brasil delivery: servidão financeira e estado de emergência econômico. São Paulo: Boitempo, 2008.PLATÃO. Teeteto. Domínio Público. Disponível em: http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/download/texto/cv000068.pdf Acesso em: 15 de maio, 2020.POCHMANN, M. Estado e capitalismo no Brasil: a inflexão atual no padrão das políticas públicas do ciclo político da nova república. Educ. Soc., Campinas, v. 38, nº. 139, p.309-330, abr-jun., 2017.SAGAN, C. O mundo assombrado pelos demônios. A ciência vista como uma vela no escuro., Coleção: A Linha do Horizonte. Local: Editorial Planeta, 1995.SILVA JÚNIOR, J. R. The new Brazilian University: A busca por resultados comercializáveis: para quem? 1. ed. Bauru: Canal 6, 2017SILVA JÚNIOR, J. R; FARGONI, E. H. E. Mundialização da educação superior: notas sobre economia, produção de conhecimento e impactos na sociedade civil. Trabalho & Educação, v.28, n.3, p.35-49, set-dez, 2019a.SILVA JÚNIOR, J. R.; FARGONI, E. H. E. Escola sem partido: a inquisição da educação no Brasil. In: BATISTA, E. L.; ORSO, P. J.; LUCENA, C. (Orgs.) Escola sem partido ou a escola da mordaça e do partido único a serviço do capital. Uberlândia: Navegando Publicações, 2019b.SILVA JÚNIOR, J. R.; FARGONI, E. H. E. Future-se: o ultimato na Universidade Estatal Brasileira. Educ. Soc., Campinas, v. 41, e239000, 2020.SINGER, A. Brasil, junho de 2013, classes e ideologias cruzadas. Novos estud. - CEBRAP, São Paulo, n. 97, p. 23-40, nov. 2013.STANLEY, J. How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. New York: Random House, 2018.THOREAU, H. D. A desobediência civil. São Paulo: Penguin Classics, Companhia das Letras, 2012.e4533133

Ethics and political imagination in feminist theory

This article discusses three different conceptions of ethics within contemporary feminist theory and how they depict the connection between ethics and politics. The first position, represented by Wendy Brown, mainly describes ethics as a sort of anti-political moralism and apolitical individualism, and hence as a turn away from politics. The second position, represented by Saba Mahmood, discusses ethics as a precondition for politics, while the third position, represented by Vikki Bell, depicts it as the ‘external consciousness’ of the political, and as destabilising political discourse by confronting it with singularity and ‘radical’ difference. Though they represent distinct positions, the article argues, all three suffer from a tendency to reify ethics by failing to give a contextualised account of it. The article then introduces the ethical perspective of Judith Butler, arguing that she – while offering both a transhistorical and a contextualised dimension – tends to psychologise and individualise ethics and politics. The last part of the article introduces Terry Eagleton and what, in a Marxist vein, could be called a ‘materialist ethics’ or an ‘ethics of socialism’, and argues that this way of framing the relationship between ethics and politics provides a solution to the trap of reification identified in the three described positions. This part also discusses how Eagleton’s theory relates to – but also differs from – arguments made by Butler. One advantage of Eagleton’s work, the article argues, is that it does not psychologise and individualise ethics and politics as Butler’s work does.

Gazing into the World of Tattoos: An Invitation to Reconsider how we Conceptualize Religious Practices

Debates around the visibility of religious symbols – including whether and how to regulate them—have been quite vivid in recent years in Canada, and particularly in the province of Quebec. These discussions often focus on minority religious symbols and are based on the premise that symbols can be removed or modified. In fact, Saba Mahmood (2006, 2009) argues that using the term “symbol” precludes de-facto our ability to entertain the possibility that these symbols cannot be removed or modified. Drawing on 15 interviews with religiously tattooed individuals and tattoo artists in Montreal and Toronto, this article explores the practice of religious tattooing. Interestingly, this practice has been overlooked in debates on the regulation of religious symbols, as well as in the scholarly literature covering those debates. In this article, we are interested in thinking about why this is. We also argue that looking at the practice of religious tattooing helps give further credence to Mahmood’s criticism. It broadens our understanding of religious practices, including alerting us to the importance of the idea of ‘lived religion’ in comprehending how these practices can be an essential part of who someone is. While religious tattoos have largely escaped legal regulation, we conclude with a discussion of how they nonetheless remain the object of a regulatory gaze.

Religious Rituals as Civil hexis

In their attempt to question the assumption that rituals are merely symbolic, Talal Asad and Saba Mahmood tried to show that rituals have functioned as instruments. In Asad’s study of medieval Christianity and Mahmood’s work on mosque women, rituals function to make selves. These instrumentalist readings stand outside the usual modernist representational readings. For these anthropologists, the distinction between representational and instrumental understandings of rituals seems to be very clear. Nationalist modernist readings of Islamic rituals seem to confirm the representational logic, which apparently falls entirely outside the instrumental framework. In this paper, I intend to disturb this clear-cut distinction, and demonstrate that in many occasions the instrumental understanding is preceded by a representational interpretation, while the representational may, in turn, help create a civil subject. My evidences come from the Iranian Islamic literature in 1960s and 70s, viz. Mortaza Motahhari, Ali Shariʾati, Mehdi Barzargan, and the authors of Maktab-e Islam monthly. Although some of these intellectuals emphasized the instrumental nature of rituals in making the pious subject, others proposed different rationalizations—medical benefit, collective solidarity and order, and existential meaning. For these thinkers or their audience, there was no clear distinction between these justifications. It is true that many of them had a representational logic; but they contributed to making a proper civil subject. Hence, the instrumental-representational binary cannot always be maintained. Asad’s and Mahmood’s critiques of anthropological readings of rituals have yet to be qualified to take into account the prior interpretations and theological context of religious rituals, to highlight the conflation of the representational and instrumental frameworks in many modern rituals, and to note that deciding on the instrumentality of a particular ritual is not only significant when it is about constructing the interior of the private self, but may be involved in building larger communities.