Baudrillard Jean the Spirit of Terrorism 2003

7/26/2019 Baudrillard Jean the Spirit of Terrorism 2003

1/52

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2/52

Whcn it cume5

to

work evcnts, wc Ju.d Ottn quitc

a From the

death

of O;"lIa to

tho

Worl< Clip.

And

,;olent,

rc 3 1

",.".,10,

rrom

""aU

right through

10

genocide

. Yet. when it comes to

symbolic

nent' on a wodd ,calc Ihat

i

to

soy nol jllst

c en tbat gain w o r l w i coverage , but e"cnts

th.t

r e p r e ~ n t

a ,tback for global;,.tion

iw,lr

-

e

had had

nOne.

Throughout till'

lIagnalion

or

\ h 1990.,

e enlS

wer c 'on . trike' (ao thc

'''rgcntinian

writeT M30ed0nio Fern .ndc-z pul it).

Wdl, the $trike is

w,er

noW. bcnl.

are

not on

strike

any

more.

With the "IUlck. on the World


3/52

N ' ' ' U ( ) ~ 1 L 1 ' ' . ( )

r rade Ceu,I',. in New York, We might "'"cn

be

uid

to ho. .. before u,

the ~ I > $ o J u t e

e...,nt.

'he

'mOlho"r'

of

all

" ~ t n l l ,

tho

pure

e>'"nt

uniting wi hin

i l ~ l r

the (>'''''15 Iha l " , ~ nCYior tah " p J ~ .

The .... I>ole pl.), of hi loty and p m ' ~ r i. di .

rupted by lhi.

c ~ c n t ,

/,,,,

n.

td

written

in the

effort

to

cllOpcl it.

At a pinch,

...

c: can

Y hat

t h ~

did

ir, but W


4/52

Which e x p l

; n l . l I l

coun terphobic rOling.

about C x u r c i ~ i n g . . . il: it i . hecouot' h is I h ~ r e

C1ctY"'he

r

e

,

lilt

n ob,cur' ' objeCI of

de,in,.

Without

Ib

;, dccp"e. t

"d cumplkill'

the C'"em

would

not

ha, .. h...1 the ,,,l1I

complicity.

nu. fu beyond halrro for- tk domi/WIt

world f ' u \ \ ' ~ r among ti,e di

. .

nhcriled a, ,,1 the

upIOit"' mong who ha,e mdt:d

up

OIl

wrong ,ide

of

the glol.ol order. E"cn Ih""e who

.hArc in the ad,'onlagel of Iha, order ha,-.. this

malicio\U d c ~ i r e in

thdr h"uu.

AII

..

rgy

10 any

d .

nnil;w order, 10

an

)' ddinitj,"c

power. is _ hap _

pil) - Un;'"ersll, and t/,..

,,,.., I"wen

of

he

" 'wid

T ...dc Centu

wtore

J>erfect

c m b o d i m e n t ~ .

in th(.l r

YeT}

"-IM"",

dthot ddinith'" order

No n ~ . then, fo r . de"th

drl"e

or 3 d ,struc_

Ii,'" i n , i n ~ t . or ,"'''n

for p m ' ~ in the p O W ~ T of power Might,,,'" the will

to destroy i l . And it " .. . po.rly 10 il$ own dcsu-uc

tion When

d ~ t"'O to""U

colbpoc:'L ) ou

h.d

the

'mpres.ion tJut th . - w u ~ re.ponding In the

...1.

ci3' become

,uicidal,

and

dedared wor 00 it..,lf.

T h ~ count "", di""'''T TTle-


5/52

HN .... UO" , " " "O

mO,.., thu I h ~ al1ad, on

the

Ptmt.ogon _ hod t h ~

grcatClt ~ y m b o l k impa


6/52

I I A ~ I A U O ~ l A . O

the

Isbmk

lOuse

-

C ~ n ""count

for Ihe o:-nertt'

"'hieh fuels

I ~ r r o r .

lbe";m ..

110

longer e\C"

10

ransform

the

world. bUI ( ..

t h ~ r e . i ~ s

did

in

thd , ,by

10

udin l iu t h ~ world by 5;lcrifjce.

W I M ' r e ~ ,

the "y",ern aim. to realize

it

by fwtt.

Ihrori 11l. li ke

..

;ru,.", e v e r y \ \ h c r ~ . There

i. a glohJ I ptrfuSioll

of

teTm,i,""

which

,;m

,.

ponl ," ~ " y 'p tcm of domination

a.

though it

'er(

iu ..... dow,

rudy 10 a c t i , - ~ t c

it..,lf

my" he

like double agem. w ~ coo no l o n g ~ r d r ~ ,

' ~ r C . l i o n II c

around

i.

It

i$ at

,

"uy hUl I

of

this

("Uhurc whieh comb.. > II.

and.ho-

"I,i >k

f"Clure

(Ind

the hltrn )

thaI pits I h ~ uploited

and the undtrdcl"eloped globally g ~ J S 1 the

WC

$\crn

"'orld

"'CTdly ~ o n n c c t s with the

~ c .

lu, ,-, Inter",1 to the dominant "y"-em , That '}'I'

\ ~ m

~ ' a l l f ~

db,,"n an)

, i b l ~

'ntogll"ilm.

/jUI

a g ~ l n H the

olher

kind. which io "iral

in

_\ruclf.

The first

'wo ,vo.-id

w ~ r s wrIT.ponded to

the claSlical i m . g ~ of u. The first ended t h ~

.upremacy of EUTOp' I nd tho:-

001001,1

era.

The

. .cond put an end 10 Nazism. The

thin ,

which

It

indeed taken piau,

in

t h ~

form

of

cold war


7/52

md d e t e r T < : n ~ , put

~

end

( 0

Communism. With

uch

,ucct-t-ding

.r,

We

h ~ ' - e mo,-ed

further

(owud. JIngle

. , , ~ I d

order,

T o d o ~

(h.1I

orde

r,

whi


8/52

to be G

oOO

'Ince, by Ie;2ing for illelf glowl

monopoly

of pow>::r it

gj' n

rue, by that very K't ,

to bl

.... l>ad

0, ,

proportio ... . 'ioIcOCt:.

In t h ~

traditional uni,cr.."

there ""3.$

Itill

ba1>nce

bet"c('n

Gooltriumph of

liberal 1"-"''''": il

wa

mal

point Ihat ghostly

enemy

eme

rged , infiltrating

iudf

throughout

th e

whole planet, slipping in ) w h e ~ l i k ~ a ,i. . . .

wtlling up from

.U the

;nle

. of

power:

bl.m.

Out blam wa' m c r ~ l )

the

mo'-ing f,(Inl along

"hi

ch the

antagoni,m c r ) " S t a l i ? t ~ . T h ~

anugo

n;.m i . e,'erywhere, and in e'-ery onc

of

u.

So.

It

;,

lerror

against terroT_ But

ymmetric terror_

And it i. Ihi ymmet.y

which

In,e.

glob

.1

omnipotena

entirely disarmed .

AI odd. with

Itself, il can only plw.ge further into its (M-n logi


9/52

~ h ~ n g e

f lOw is

Ihal

the I ~ r r o r b u hi,-., C < c ~ e d

10

COfflmU

suici


10/52

nAN IAUOR'UARo

ror

Ihcre

Ij 'y ,bolic

obUg.tion upon both tla

~ , . . I C ' ao,l PO"-er /I P < ~ I I , an around

agains' It, for Itrroriludylng with .heir f a r n i l i ~ ,

bef"rt aCli,.ling thcm.e[>'e. s u d d ~ n l ) - l i k ~ lime


11/52

bornl.

The

f ~ u l d C M m""tery of mi, clmde't;ne

style of

o p e r ~ t i o n

i. almost ""

turorinic

. . the

'p''O:ucul .. iICI of September 11 .m.c.- it ca. .u.

picion on any and c"cry i"dhidual. Might not any

inofferu;;"e person be po'(ntial

t(rrori

. ? If

,My

coul


12/52

O\h.:,... And, ~ , ~ n ill thi,

caS('.

U

in

any ... iona]

organi"lllion or "'"1.ttl "''''i


13/52

enemy n u m b ~ r

on( of

Irulh. Admiuedh- Ihdr

,-

J e ~ t t u . pro :: nothing.

bul in

a 'ystem u ~ r e

trulh

i l ~ l f

i du.;'" (or do ...., d.,, , , 10 POlS"'" it?),

,l>eu is nothing

to

pro>e. Morto:li".

. iu God,

i f l ~ -

' no hope in

dealh,

as

is

the

~ . : ; c

wilh

us

(yet

Chri,'i.n

mUI)'rI

a

.

um ion _ poor men who no

longer ''en

h."c the

\Vh>1 C.n

happen

now - "p.r t from U.

whkh

i. it.,.,lf mnd)' COtwen tional ""fd)" shield

['crl>O

k

p _p lbere is 1.lk

of bioHe,

'01 tml

h.cleriologk.1

" -arfare or

d terrorism. Yet

thai i no long


14/52

J

IAN

with the opposing

po r.

It

is

that power w i ~

humiliated ) ou, so it t

oo

mus t

be

humiliated. And

not merd)

ntcrm

inatcd. t has to be

made

to

lose face. And you

ne ,

'Cr achie>e th.t by pure

force and elim in.ting the

ot

h

er I'artl'

it must ,

r.ther, he t.rgeted and wounded in gcn indy

.dHnar i .1 rdation . Ap.r t from the pact that

hind, the t

crmr

ist' together, there is

.I

w some-

thing of " du.> l p

a


15/52

if real it;, i,

c"

'ywher infiltrated by image

s,

"ir_

~ t y and finion;

In

the pre,ent case, we

tho

ught

we had seen (pe rn . p' with a certain relie ) a resur

gence of the real, and

of

the n o f the real ,

in

on alkgedl)' drtu

.l

universe.

'T

here', an end \.0

a

ll

YOl,,- talk a

hvut

the vir

tu

al -

th

is is

somet

hing

Sim

ilaTly

, it was po s.. ibk l l see this a< a res

ur rectio n of

hiowr)

beyond it, p roclaimed end.

But

doe

s reality act ually out st ri p fiet i,,,, , If it

...,em, to do ' , this is because it h. . absorbed fic

tion 's energy, and ha, il$d f becomc fiction. We

might almo ' t say th. t reali ty is of fiction ,

th.t

th

e

re.J

is je. loll ' o f

the

ima

ge

It

is a

j n d of

duel bet ween ~ a contest to see w

hi

ch

can be t he m

O'

t unimaginable_

l b e collapse of

th

e Wo

rl

,l T, . , l< : Center tow

er s is un

imaginable,

b

ut

that i,

not

n o u g h

to

mah , it a teal event _ An excess

of

violence is not

enou

gh to

open

on

to

Teality. ~ . l i \ ) is a prin

cip le, and it is

th

is p rincip le that i, lo,t. Re.lit)

and fi ct io n .re inex tr icable , and the t i ( )

willI the att

.c

k

is

pr im

arily a fascination with

the

image

(bot

h it, exu

lta'o


16/52

J N .... U O . U U O

lhe

bliCk magic of lerrori.m; 11K:

whilt

light of

im.ge uod 11", bbek light

of

lerrorlsm_

\\'., try retw'pect i,.cl,. to impole I()mC kind of

muning

on iI,

10

find

some

kind of

inltrpreu

lion.

But t h e ~ is none. And h Is Ihe r a d i c a l i ~ of

5f"'CIiCk.

tht

brutahty of

the : i p e ~ u d e ,

him

alOOle

is origirul and irrcdociblc.

The

.ptttade of

tcrrorh,,,, for-o:s

the lerrorism

of

J ~ c t ; l C l e

upon

u"

And, against Ihi. immoral fascinltion (e"en if it

unleashes a un"..,. . .1 mo",1 rC/oetion), 11K: polilical

order can do nothing. 1

m .

is Ut t l K : ~ l r e of crud

Iy.

the

only one

we

ha'-e lefl _

U t r a o r d i r u r ~

in

W t

il

wti\fI

the moer .

Is no po

. b l ~

di.tinc

tiol1. U t h ~ I.,,-d of i m a g ~ s and information,

be t ween the ' p c t . c u l ~ r .nd Ihe symbolic, no

poSSible distinction bet ,een the 'crime ' .nd the

crlckdo 'n. And

it

i this unconlroll.bl., unleash

ing of r e , - ~ ... i l i t ~ that is terrodsm', Irue ,-icta

1') . A Yietory thaI is ,i"bl., In the ,,,bt.,rune.n

r.mifoations and infoltnliol11 of the e'-ent - not

lUI in the d i r ~ c t

.,conomic, polltic.l.

fin.nci.1

,lulOp in

the w h o l ~

of

the

system -

.nd

t hc

r(IU l

ling

monl and

psycho

logic.1

downlurn


17/52

but in tht. .Iump in th., , 'alue-'ptem, in th

whole ideology of fr""dom, of

fTee drcubtio

n,

."d 10 on,

on the WeW

,'Tn

world prided

iudf, an,1

on it drew'" cxcn It hold o'-er

t ~ s t oflhe "orld.

To the point tlut

the iCk, curying oul fWnful

~ i J i O n of il$

,-:0/.

" '" ,n d e f ~ ' I 1 . ' l i c reaction, '" i, o u d ~ to the

i m ~

of

terrori,m, but ;sI>On


18/52

j

i.

no n ~ d y

for this

extre

me ,i

tu

. tion,

and war i cer t. inly not solution , it m , d ~

olTers a rehash of pa'I, \\

1th

the same d d u g of

military l

orees

, bog", informatioll, ",mel"" born.

bardm'm

t, em otive and dece

it f

ul bnguage, tech

nological ,kl'loyment and brainwashing, Lib tl,e

Gul f War: a

non

_e"",>I,

an event that

doe< not

rea lly take

pl.ce.

And this i

ndeed

i, its ai,ond : t )

su

bstitute,

r -

real

""d

form

idable, unique ,,


19/52

A v . " ion of

th

is

paper

w '

Saudr

ilia,d', contri

bution to a

debate

on the events of Septemb , 'n.,,,, i ,

.

.b.oluto dif.

ftruhy in

'p ,

"mg of n , ,lute c"eot, Th.,;,

to

y,

in

p '

iding>n

'

'''")

''

i

of

it

....

1u ani, 'cd

from

the 'Ca,

That image changed . f t ~ r 1973,

with

the

building of

,h"

World Trade Cen'er, The

effigy of ,he 'PICrn wos no longer the obelisk and

the pyramid, but the punch card and the statisti

cal graph, This architectural graphism

i

tlte

embodimen of a system that is no longer com_

petiti'-e,

but

digital

and

countable,

. d

from

' O U I I

...

'OR

T H '

TWIN T O W H ,

which competition has disappeared in f,\,our of

nc


21/52

two lOwers signifl

ul

, n

one

the I

,

a halt to ,w ti

cal ity , not of

the

same breed as the

o t

her bu

ild ing'_ Th


22/52

of

att

raction and r p u

l,ion,

and

henc

e ,

some-

where, > secret desire to them di ..

p e ~ r , n

the

case of the Twin Tow , m th ing particular is

added

: p

reci,ely the

ir

s)'mmetry dnd the

ir

w i n _ n ~ , .

There is,

.dmitted

l

y, in

this cloning and

perfect s ~ m m e t r y an .esthetic

quality, a kind

of

perfect

crime

against

form.

a

tautology

of

for m

which c. n

gh'e ri,e,

in a

dolent reaction, t the

temptation to bred that ,)"mm,'lr),.

to

tore an

asymmetry

nd

henc" a , ing

ul

.ri':'.

ThClT

d c r u ~ 1 i o n

itself re'peClffl

the S)mme

tn' of the

lowers:

a double ' Hack, separated by d

f

ew minutes'

imer ,l, with a sense of su'pen,e

be

l ween

the

I

wo imp.cts

_

After

the fiTOt, one

could still believe

i t , , ~ . n

acci,j

ent.

n l)- the ""c-

on

d

impact confirmed

th"

t rr

or

;,t au

. ck.

And

in

the

Queens

air crash

a month later

,

the TV

sta_

lion'

waited,

a)

'ing with the

stor)

(in

Fr.nce

) for

four

ho

m " waiting to broadcast

a

possible

SCO)nd

~ T > , h 'live'

,

Since

that

did not O


23/52

global

~ c o n o m l c

libtouli.nt).

The

architectural

obj1

,,-

os

des\roye


24/52

l g,1I m..c),}, has M,com .uickbJ, and

d e c l ~ r e d

war on

Il.&elf,

Evcn

in

,heir

fa

ilure,

,hc tcrrorlsu

.uc.,.,edcd

beyond

their

'ildest

hope ,

in

bungling their

anack on the While

H ..,

(while succewing far

b e ~ o n d

their objecth'u on

the to\\ers),

,hey

d ~ m o n > u l c d u n i n t e o n ~ l I y

that that 'as

not

the , , 'n,i.

l target,

that

polhinl power nO

longer

meon. much,

and

rul

p wer lies else

where, A. for \\ hal should be

buih

in ploce of

the to -':rs, the problem

i.

in'lOlubk

Quite

sim-

1'1) because

one

can imagine nOlhing

'luinlenl

th . .

would

be

worth destroying Ihat

....

,ould be

w o r l h ~ '

fhe ing destroyed. The

T\,in

Towe

re .....or lh de.tru}ing.

On

c cann

OI

uy the me

of many a..,hilecturol

,,'Oru.

Most thlog. are not

e,'cn

wOTth o o t r o ~ ' i n g 0f

an ;nunorl.l.l enemy. For If the """

my

no


29/52

l o n g ~ r

~ ~ i : n J , it b e r o m ~ . difficult 10

destroy

il. A

taulology. admllltdly, ho,t ~ r m r i s m i ~ u t o l o g k - a l .

and

ils condusion

i. a p ()Xic;tl ~ y l l < > g i s m , if ,he

Sl>lt,

n':all}' existed. it ",ouk

gh-e

a political

munlng

10 t e r m r i ~ , .

Sin

"" terrorism

manifc"I)'

has

none

(tMllgh it

has

nlher

m">,,

ing') .

thl< i, proofthat

Ille

S t . l ~ doc.,

nOI

~ x i s l , .nd

that

il>

powtr i, deroory.

What , then, ;.

the

terrorim' ~ _ gc? In a

N

n. .

klin

story.

We . . , ~ him crossing

t h ~

frontier

,,",ch

,by with muleJ Ja


30/52

irreducible 10 th is inexorable m , ' mcnt towards a

completed global order.

A ' 't.1 countcrforce groppling with the death

f o r ~ p ofth p ,m. A fMcc of defiance to a global

ity totoll)" w luhk in r ~ u l . t ' o n or exch.nge. A

force of,n irrcducihle

,ingu

larity. the mote violent

as

the ,ystem extend, its hegemony up to a rup '

tural e'ent like th

, t

of Scpteml>er 11 . which do int of paroxysm,

t

exacerbate. a certain slate of

thing

.

a certain logic

of

violence and uncertainty.

Tn.- 'y ,tem itself, by 'p culau \'c extension of al l

exchange, the random and ,ir tu.l fo r m i. im]>eration, now. and calculation

which th Twin Tower. embodic


31/52

invi 'ible enemy, What pTnail, then' i , meTd)" the

A m n i ~ a n people'. immen,e comp ion fOT iwelr

,;th , tar

p.mgbl

hanneTS, oommemomt

iv

c

mes

_

sages, the cult

of

victim,

and Df

tho"" pDstmoder n

hcrDCs, the firefighter; and

thc

pDlice. Compassion

as

the

nation.1 passion

of

a

peop

le that wants to be

alone with God , and prefer; to sec

itself

struck

down b} God than y 'me ""il pow r. 'God bless

m e i - - . .

ha, he


32/52

iI, 10

c x ~ n its p o w ~ r

in all good

C O < I O < i ~ n '

A sit

uation

d ~ n c e

fiction

dreamed

of

rom

, h ~

beginning: m.t of some obscure

f o ~

wt "'Quid

wi ," Ih"m

0

,,1 . d which,

until that point, m ~ r d y

e ~ i , , ~ d

in

their con,, ;oo'

(or

$Om olhle.

1t.1I

corne, (n)m t h ~ irnpo"

.ibili )'

of

coned ing of the

Other - fritnd

or

enemy _ In III

. .dk.

]

other .

in

its

irreo::mcil.ble

fo ,igone , A ref

$01

rooted in the totol identifica

tion with on=Jf ..round

mo . val""" and tcchnical

pm'.-er.

111>1

is the America thai: tale. iu(if for

America

anli which,

.,.,.."ft

of othune

.

e,-...

it$f:lf

with tl.e wildeS

('Qmpassion,

Let "" be d.-ar: AmS)-d.op.11h or crank,

want

to

he

different, irremeJi3bly different,

with

out c,'en. de,

ire to sign up

10 our unh'ern

l

& 'pdl

Such is the orroganco:

" f

Empin: _ u

in

Borges',

ollq;oT)' (\:M mirror-

people'),

.. he", II . defuled

~ I arc exiled

into

the mirror rrom

...

hI:,..,

they .,.., rooonnr>e


33/52

jihadi ' :' 'We

proouced

ym" jihadists and terror,

i,ts, and you will end up prisonerS of resemb lan


34/52

hen in

'"Cflg th.n 'ny: whea,mes

o f f e n . ; ' ~ ,

t\>t:n i\ mml

be

redu d to

impotence.

In

I word, 1.1.10 i. not w .... il ought to

be. And hal, then, of

the W ~ t

Thtrc

is

thc ,me

inabihty to cont . mplate for

one moment that I h e ~ 'fanatics' might

commi

t

them d,..,.

entirdy 'frttly',

without in any way

being

blind, mad

or

rnanipubt


35/52

Hence

the

abrurdity of the,epi thet 'cowardly' th.t is

applied

to

the

terror

ist

s:

cov.ardly for

h ing

cho n

suicide, cowardly for having s crificed the innocem

(wh D we don't accuse

them

oftaldng ad,'antage of

this to reach parodi..,).

All

th

e same, we should t

ry

10

get b ~ y o n d

the

mor.l

impe

rative of

unconditional

respe ct for

human life, and concei,.e that one might respect,

hoth

[n the other and in

one

self, something other

than, and more than , life (existence isn't every

thing, it is ,,,'en

the

lea't

of

things) : a destiny,

ause , a form o f pride

or of

s . . c There are

symbolic .kes which

fa

r

exceed

eJ[i enC'e .nd

freedom which we find il

unbearabl

e to lose,

beanlSe we h.,'e made them the fetishistic .lues

of

wU,

'e

rsal

human

ist order_So we c

annot

imagine a

terrori't

act cmmittcd with cnlin: oulimomy . nd

' freedom

of o n s c i e n ~ , , ' ,

Now,

o i ~

in terms

of

.ymholic obligation. is ...,rndimes r o f o u n d l ~ rnys

te r ious - as in the cose o f Roman

d,

the man with

the double life, who murdered his whole family,

not for

fcor

of

he

i

ng unmasked, hu

t for fear

of

inflicting on them

the

profound disappointment of

d i , ~ - o - e r i n g hi' deception.' Committing suicide

would

not ha e exp unged thc crime from t h ~

record,

he would mcrel}' h ,-e passed

th

e ~ m e

off

on to

the

other,

_

Wncre

is the

c : o u r ~ g e

wher

e

cowardice? The ' l u ~ ' t i o n of freedom , one's

own

or

tha

I

of

then.

no

lo

nge

r poses

itself

in t

erms

of

m o r ~ consciousness,

and.

higher freedom must

all,, '

u, to dj'pes

e

of

it to (be

point

of abusing or

f i ~ i n g

it.

Omar Khanam:

' Rath

er

onc f .. eman

hind ith

{ ruins

of

love than

set

a ,housand pris

oned

npti cs

freIud nd D.up


36/52

in,,,.sloo

o

the

n u - n - . I ~ , , , ...,Lotion,,},ip_ In t h ~

p

.

t h ~ mutn"

""as

the

one

,,1.0 " ... ~ to


37/52

'

CaroIirw:= Hdnrich

he ,

'lill)_

Now, ,ho: poin' ill not

to . J c ~

it OIJt on m u l ~ t i o n , but to. . h

i

~ u t

h

.mth

''''' f

The ,; '

1>0

poin t_c l ing

m u J ~ ,

If

It nlconS fIlling b;l d into truth.

n.e", i , nO point

.t,,,,,king the irtual, if it means falling back i

nlntbo:r

""

,..k . The;ojm is ,,;mply

to w,..,.,k thc: sY".cm _ itself ,nrou ,1

and

{)l. urning

power, not in

tM name

of.

moral

or re ligious

ron-

front.lio . nor

5Om 'd.uh

of chiliutiou', but as a

rault of

the

pure an;ol

,,'


38/52

There i

s, r n o r ~ o y e r , no need to

) , an Islamist,

or (0 appeal to a higher

truth,

to

find

this glnb.l

order

unac"""I'L,hle.

[,um;st

or

nOl.

we share

thi'

fund.ment.l rejection, 'lld there . re many si

gns of

fr.c tu re lor disarray of fragili )'

at the

, , ~ n of

this p

ower

itself. Thi,

i

the 'truth' of the terrori't

act. The


39/52

me",ly to "" ruponding 10 this ",drelic demmd

for r e ~ J ; t y .

f Or Philippe Muray, too, Ihe jihad,,,.' terror_

i.m

i,

merely

Ihe la

. t stirring of

a

dying _

Ihe a f t e r m ~ l h of dram.tic hi


40/52

Ab


41/52

as .nti.American, and .booh'es the

terrorists

fro m blame?

(But

to absoh'e them from blame

is

to

reli""c them of ~ s p o n s i b i l i l ) for the e,'ent, which

come,

wck round agai n to the ~ } f l . e m p t u o u . iew

that the 1,larni'" would ne er h,,'c bee" capable

of

such a feal.) No, it i. rather, the 'denial' pect

of

th is theory that

expla

ins the violence

of

the ruc-

tion . The deni.1

of

reality is terroristic in itself.

Any th ing is

kiter

,h.n

to

contest realit}, as such .

What ha,

to

be

.aved ;' , alx",,, aI , the

r ~ a l i t y

prin ,

cipk '1\

ega.ionism

idf i$ global iled; democracy and

hum.n

rigbt. i m l l ~ t

just like any other global

product

like oil or capital.

Wb.1

o o m ~ 5

with the traruition fTom Ihe oni.

vo:r ..llo

the

global

i.

both a

b o m o g ~ n

z a t i O l l 01 1'ersal

is . hattored. BUI this is pcrlupn o

pportuni

ly. for

in

the fragmenu

o/ thiulutlerW mirror, all the lin

gubrities ar'e 10

be

threatened

arc s n

'iving, while those we thought to

be eX linct ore re.-i,ing.

The , ilnation i, I>< coming r.d i li. ,cd., univer

sal niue , lose loci. authority and legitimacy. So

Iong:as they coukl

iWCTI the ,l,u

as mediating

vaiun, they sucaeded .

mor< ing an

entirely in.

diffu

.

nt

cu

ltur

e (or

l ~ k

of

it).

0

the un;,e ....1 d i s a p P ~ ' m.1 remain.

is

the

~ n . p o ...erful global tlmostructure,

Sll:t

,..,r agoinM

.ingularities

th,'

arc now relurned to Ihe ild ,nd

lefllO themsel,.es.

The ,,,,hcr,..1 hu had its historiQI

~ h . n < - . :

but

loday. oonfromed on

the one

hond with a gloo..l

order

to

which there is no alternalivo:

IIlId,

on the

other. with singularities drifting ofT

00

their own

or

V'OLfNCI O . T HE G L

O . . l


46/52

rising up against the system, the concepts of free

dom, democracy and human rights cut a '-cry pale

f i g u r ~ ,

being merely the ghosts of

a

.nished uni

versal.

The uniwrsal " ,," a culture of r a n o c e n d ~ n c c , of

the subject

.nd

the concept , of the Real and repre

scntuion. The ,' irtu.1 space of the global is the

'p

"';e of the . rcen

.nd th

e network, of immanence

. nd the digit.l, of a m ~ n . ' p a ( ~ l i m ~

In

the uni,e,,,,l.

ther

e w"" . ill a natu",1

c f ~ r c n ~ e t >

the

world,

to

the

ody

and to menlOry, kind of

di.lectica

l tension

.nd cr

itic.1 mo,'ement which

found heir form in histori

cal.nd

rcvolutionary io

~ - . : : . It i,

the ~ x r u l s i o of this ~ r i t i c . 1 neg.tivity

which open, On to . not h

e,

kind of o k n ~ c th

e

"iolence of the global: the '''premacy of positivity

,lone and of teclmic.1 efficiency, total organization .

integrol circu lat ion, the equiva l

ence

of l l

cxchange, _Hence the end of the ro le of the intel

lectu. l. hound up with the

E n l i g h t ~ n m c n

and

th


47/52

Henex: thi, violence of the global.

The

\'iolenoe

of a ' ptem that hounds

out

any

form

of negali'-ity

Of

,jng"larily, including thaI u

ltim'

le

fo

'

m

of ,in

g ur

ily Ih .t i. death i ~ l r .

The

"iolene


48/52

ti,"c

i

to curb deregulation. Its political impact

m.y

be eonsider>ble, but its symbolic imp> single. track counter-thinking, they

inwnt their own game and their own rules.

Singularities are not ne atily ' i

olent

, .nd

there are

wme

subtle one" su


49/52

of o thers. E"cn w ~ r o - for

eumple,

Ihe

' -U

in

A r g h ~ , , - aim initially,

~ h o v c

an.1 beyo

nd

polit

ic.1 or C< ."()nomic strategies, to norm.lize ... 'agery,

to

knock

.

lItcrrilorie.

into alignment.

The ohjec

th'e

is

to

quell

an)' refractor),

WIle,

to ro lOfli:

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Baudrillard Jean the Spirit of Terrorism 2003

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