THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER: In Strange Communion with Leszek KolakowskiMichnik, Adam
2010 Common Knowledge
doi: 10.1215/0961754X-2009-086
This memorial to Leszek Ko akowski by perhaps his most famous student—a cofounder of the Solidarity movement—treats Ko akowski's life story only in passing. Not a conventional eulogy, the essay runs extensively through several of the arguments Ko akowski made over the years that taught the Polish "Generation of `68" how best to undo oppression and why they should do so. Emphasis falls on the difficulty, unpredictability, and unclassifiable features of Ko akowski's writings—features that, paradoxically, did not stand in the way of his becoming not only the "prince of philosophers," but also the best known and even the most popular thinker in Poland of the half-century following World War II.
THE IDEA OF EUROPEGossman, Lionel
2010 Common Knowledge
doi: 10.1215/0961754X-2009-087
Even if its constituent members still define particular positions and pursue at times somewhat independent policies, the EU acts increasingly in important areas as the unified federal state many have long wanted it to be. It may have come into being in response to practical problems, and pragmatic considerations are likely to ensure its continued consolidation, but its most committed champions have also presented it as the realization of an idea, as a longstanding project finally fulfilled. What is the idea that a federal European state can claim to embody or represent or be animated by? How well do the various versions of the idea that have been articulated so far fit the current and emerging reality of the EU? Attention in the article focuses especially on the pan-European movement that emerged after the unprecedented destruction of World War I.
"Decorate the Dungeon": A Dialogue in Place of an IntroductionPerl, Jeffrey M.; Richmond, Colin; Sachedina, Abdulaziz; Arsic, Branka; Envoi, Anonymous
2010 Common Knowledge
doi: 10.1215/0961754X-2009-088
In the place of an introduction to part 5 of the Common Knowledge symposium on forms of quietism, the journal's editor and one of its longtime columnists discuss, in dialogue format, the case of Thomas More. Could he have evaded martyrdom at the hands of Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell? One discussant argues that More could not have done so without contemptibly abandoning his principles and surrendering fully to despotism. The other discussant disagrees, suggesting that More had to abandon some of his principles one way or the other—in resisting despotism, however quietly, More did serious harm to his wife and daughter, to the European humanist movement, and to the cause of English Catholics.
PRUDENTIAL CONCEALMENT IN SHI`ITE ISLAM: A Strategy of Survival or a Principle?Sachedina, Abdulaziz
2010 Common Knowledge
doi: 10.1215/0961754X-2009-089
The paper undertakes to investigate the Sh ` practice of prudential concealment ( taq ya ) as a source of both quietism and political activism. The practice functioned as a strategy of survival for the Sh ` minority living under hostile Sunni regimes. Although Sunni ulema criticized the practice as dissimulation and, hence, morally wrong, ironically they too adopted the strategy when encountering autocratic and oppressive Sunni regimes that suffocated the right of the people to voice their demand for just treatment. The article demonstrates that the strategy created a specific sphere of existence for the Sh `ites, known as the "abode of prudential concealment," which incrementally allowed Muslim opposition to engage in underground activity for regime change and for a political transformation of the public order that accorded with Islamic ideals. In light of Muslim political theology providing doctrinal resources for Muslim societies to work toward the common good in the public sphere, this latter space functions as a means of critical evaluation of the existing autocratic governments in the Muslim world, prompting political action, however underground. The major conclusion of the paper is that although the practice was developed by the Sh ` minority living under intolerable political conditions, at different times under unbearable political conditions and the absence of democratic processes, it has provided Muslims a strategy to regroup and engage in political transformation.
MARY ROWLANDSON AND THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF PATIENT SUFFERINGArsic, Branka
2010 Common Knowledge
doi: 10.1215/0961754X-2009-090
This article is a contribution to the fifth part of the Common Knowledge symposium on forms of quietism. Responding to a sense that prior installments of the symposium had overlooked the phenomenology of quietism, of patient suffering, the essay details the daily life of Mary Rowlandson's captivity during King Philip's War in the 17th century and, in particular, her strategies for surviving the breakdown of every basic taxonomy that had until then structured her life in Puritan New England. Refusing either suicide or rebellion and thus reduced to maintaining "bare life," Rowlandson demonstrated by her resilience that quietist strategies can result in kinds of triumph.
QUIETISM NOW?Envoi, Anonymous
2010 Common Knowledge
doi: 10.1215/0961754X-2009-091
This essay explores the possibilities of quietism in our time. It begins by examining briefly versions of quietism, Eastern and Western, then turns to particular works of Rilke, Kafka, and Beckett to review exigent images of quietism, variously relevant to the modern condition. Subsequently, it touches on some contradictions of quietism and politics, which Zadie Smith also considers in her essay, "Speaking in Tongues." Finally, the essay dwells on David Malouf's novel, An Imaginary Life , as a fully achieved parable of quietism, applicable to all places and ages. Throughout, the essay argues for a new, kenotic simplicity, a quietism grounded not in transcendence but in pragmatic virtues of self-dispossession.