Dwelling in the Sites of Finitude: Resisting the Violence of the Metaphysical Globe

Abstract: In this paper Martin Heidegger's notions about dwelling in the sites of finitude and “power‐free” (Macht‐los) “letting‐be” (Gelassenheit) are explored as fundamental possibilities for resisting the ontological violence posed by global capitalism, the planetary outcome of the metaphysical condition Heidegger calls the “machination” (Machenschaft). Beginning from the planetary machination—the emergence of the flexible and circularly functioning power of calculative intelligibility—resistance is understood ontologically and hence as a radical critique of power as a consummation of the history of the metaphysical constitution of being. The paper culminates in a discussion of Heidegger's view on the awakening of the “other beginning” of the abyssal “Event” of being, a groundless “time‐space‐play” capable of constituting an alternative modality of relations no longer based upon the calculative functions of power but upon groundless thought and non‐violent dwelling in the earth‐sites of finite being.     

“Death comes knocking on the roof”: Thanatopolitics of Ethical Killing During Operation Protective Edge in Gaza

One of the controversies of Operation Protective Edge, which Israel launched in Gaza in July 2014, is the undepreciated gap between the high number of civilian casualties and the claim of an ethically sound military operation with an extraordinary effort put on minimizing collateral damage. This paper examines one of the cornerstones of the Israel Defence Forces' ethically polished military violence during the operation: the use of preventive warning techniques. By focusing on the technique of “roof knocking”, the paper argues that the ethical justification operates through the three thanatopolitical governmentalities: responsibilization of the subjects, reification of the targeted sites, and the calculative politics of doing “the minimum evil necessary”. The Gaza population are hence not considered as passive victims, merely subjected to the killing power of calculative thanatopolitics, but as an inversion of biopolitical subjects who, instead of improving their own individual capabilities, are made accountable for their own deaths.     

A Quantitative Approach to Book-Printing in Sweden and Finland, 1640–1828

Several cities in Sweden have been providing book-printing facilities since the 1640s. In our quantitative and explorative analysis of library catalogs from the National Library of Sweden and the National Library of Finland we identify the general trends in publishing, how book-printing has been affected by political events, and how printing developed at different paces in different parts of the realm. We have developed a new method for analyzing the totality of publishing through extensive data harmonization and comprehensive statistical analysis, and by treating library catalogs not as an endpoint of bibliographic research but as an inherently rich source of information. This facilitated the quantitative assessment of printing in the Swedish realm based on the metadata contained in library catalogs. Our data-driven approach to the transformation of public discourse demonstrates that whereas the amount of printed material grew steadily, political ruptures affected the development of printing. We also suggest that the culture of books and printing is best understood through the dynamics of competing intellectual hubs consisting of the university cities and the political center in Stockholm. This perspective further challenges the dominant, nationally delineated approach in book history.     

Marriage under occupation: Israel’s spousal visa restrictions in the West Bank

In the West Bank, hundreds of non-Palestinian women who are married to Palestinian men have recently been issued shortened visas with tightened restrictions. This means they are often prevented from working, their mobilities are severely reduced and they are placed in extremely precarious bureaucratic and procedural positions. The research in this article draws from fieldwork interviews with women affected by such restrictions to show how politically induced precarities produce gendered effects towards specific ends of the occupation of Palestine. We thus frame a discussion of the women’s experiences of visa regulations through precarity before giving an account of the profound effects on women’s roles in family and political life. We then broaden the focus to consider Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the demographic implications of the gendered effects of visa precarity. In doing so we make the argument that Israel’s spousal visa regulations contribute to the (re)production of uneven gender relations and the demographic objective of emptying out the West Bank.     

Science,Technology and Changing Power Relations: the negotiation process of the agreement on Finnish-Soviet Scientific-Technical Cooperation, 1955

Finland and the Soviet Union signed the Agreement on Finnish-Soviet Scientific-Technical Cooperation, the so-called TT-agreement, in 1955. Previous research has emphasized the viewpoint that the agreement was part of a new ‘softer’ strategy of the Soviet Union, the aim of which was to entangle Finland scientifically and technologically in the Soviet sphere of influence, and that anti-communist Finns formed a unanimous front against this inconvenient initiative. This article illustrates that adopting a different perspective makes possible an interpretation which indicates that the negotiation process for the agreement was less straightforward. Throughout the negotiations it is possible to observe the key issues of centralization and decentralization as well as the question of the status of science and technology policy in Finnish society. In essence, the TT-agreement was about determination of power relations and dominion not only between Finland and the Soviet Union but also between different interest groups inside Finland.     

Negotiating Colonial Violence: Spaces of Precarisation in Palestine

This paper examines the ways in which colonial violence is transformed and spatialised into negotiated precarities at the occupied Palestine. The notion of “negotiated precarity” is developed herein, to refer to two aspects in particular. First, to spatial compartmentalisation, which shows how the settler colonial power operates by creating precarious administrative zones, where the life of the colonised becomes prone to several flexible, negotiated uses of power. Second, negotiated precarity is used to refer to the conduct of the colonised that counters, transforms, redirects, cancels or hampers the colonial spatialisations of power. By focusing on the “negotiated precarities” in a singular West Bank village, I exemplify how the colonial governing is entwined with spatial compartments that enable several informal, indirect and ad hoc techniques of colonial violence, but also how the colonial governing is constantly mobilised, negotiated, countered and redirected in/through the everyday Palestinian spaces.     

POLITICS OF BEING‐RELATED: ON ONTO‐TOPOLOGIES AND “COMING EVENTS”

This article grows from a discontent with the equation of topology to relational thinking in the recent geographical literature operating under the rubric of post‐mathematical topology. In order to find a more subtle way for comprehending topology, the article shows that there exists an entirely different tradition of topological thought, which is explicitly connected to the problematic around the notion of ontology. An alternative approach is suggested, where not only the relational constitution of topology is properly taken into account, but where an in‐depth reading of the ontological aspect is offered. Instead of fabricating another “ontology of topology”, the article argues that it is the ontology itself, which takes place topologically, that is, it is place‐bound. By relying on Heidegger's insight about the bond between place (topos) and being (ontology), the article proposes an approach that is concentrated on the manifold modes through which topological relations are ontologically revealed, ordered, and defined. It acknowledges three topological tensions – thing‐gathering, gathering‐revealing, and concealing‐revealing – in order to highlight the structure of the place in which the question of ontology, and ontological politics are entwined.