BEYOND THE IMPASSE (?): NEGATIVITY (CRITIQUE) AND
POSITIVITY (AFFIRMATION) IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL
THEORY
An Interdisciplinary Reading Group ran by graduate students in the Departments of Philosophy and Sociology
Contacts:
Conor Heaney, Department of Philosophy, C.C.J.Heaney@warwick.ac.uk
Pedro Saez Williams, Department of Sociology, P.Saez-Williams@warwick.ac.uk
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‘Postmodernism is a symptom, not a fresh solution. It lives under the modern
Constitution, but it no longer believes in the guarantees the Constitution offers. It senses that something has gone awry in the modern critique, but it is not able to do anything but prolong that critique, though without believing in its foundations
[…] What remains? Disconnected instants and groundless denunciations, since the postmoderns no longer believe in the reasons that would allow tem to denounce and become indignant.’ (Latour, We Have Never Been Modern ).
‘Down to the vernacular of praising men who are “positive,” and ultimately in the homicidal phrase of “positive forces,” a fetish is made of the positive-in-itself.
Against this, the seriousness of unswerving negation lies in its refusal to lend itself to sanctioning things as they are.’ (Adorno, Negative Dialectics ).
This reading group is being organised for anyone interested in contemporary critical social and political theory, and in questions of negativity (critique) and positivity (normativity, affirmation). One of the heritages of poststructuralist and feminist approaches of the latter half of the 20 th century has been the critique of the putatively ‘neutral’ foundations of liberal humanism, and so, the foundations of contemporary liberal democracy. The question of affirmation – of normativity
– however, still is open and lively. How do we move from critique to affirmation?
What does it mean to be, or is it possible to be, normative when one has deconstructed the metaphysical foundations of normativity of our ‘modern’ heritage (ie, liberal humanism)?
This is a call for potential participants in a reading group organised around these questions, running (at least) for term 2. We envisage a highly participatory reading group open to non-specialists, with participants (for example) taking turns to lead the discussion on a weekly basis. We will begin by reading Bruno Latour’s highly influential (but slim!) book We Have Never Been Modern, and we will agree subsequent readings amongst the participants. Potential further readings might include or be extracts from:
Bennett, Jane (2010), Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things

Braidotti, Rosi (1995), Nomadic Subjects: Embodiment and Sexual Difference in
Contemporary Feminist Theory
Connolly, William (2005), Pluralism
Hoy, David Couzens (2005), Critical Resistance: from Poststructuralism to Post-
Critique
Latour, Bruno (2013), An Inquiry into Modes of Existence: An Anthropology of the Moderns
Luhman, Niklas (1995), Social Systems
Noys, Benjamin (2012) The Persistence of the Negative: A Critique of
Contemporary Continental Theory
Ž i ž ek, Slavoj (2009), The Fragile Absolute: Or, Why is the Christian Legacy
Worth Fighting For?
If you are interested, would like some more information, wish to be kept informed or have any questions, please email one of the two contacts from the first page of this document.
We are aiming to meet on Friday afternoons, and provisionally set Friday 16 th
January for the first meeting. Please get in touch by Monday 12 th January so that we can organise an appropriate room!