Defeat as Method
4 days ago
- #resistance
- #defeat
- #colonialism
- The Bakhtiari Indigenous people of Iran faced dispossession and exploitation due to oil discoveries by British and French expeditions in the late 19th century.
- Defeat is a recurring theme in the lives of marginalized communities, as seen in the experiences of the Bakhtiari, Black individuals under colonial gaze, and Iran's defeated revolutions.
- Frantz Fanon's concept of 'thingification' describes how Black bodies are reduced and unmade under the white gaze, linking defeat to colonial oppression.
- The Iranian Revolution and earlier movements like the Constitutional Revolution and oil nationalization were marked by defeats, leaving unfulfilled promises of justice and equity.
- Ashura, a Shia ritual commemorating the Battle of Karbala, symbolizes collective mourning and resistance, translating defeat into a catalyst for social movements.
- Defeat is not the end but a method for critical thought, fostering radical hope and imagination among oppressed communities like the Crow Indigenous nation and Palestinians.
- Colonial modernity denies defeat, casting the oppressed outside history, while anti-colonial practices reclaim defeat as a ground for ethical and political thought.
- Fugitivity and opacity, as seen in Black and Indigenous traditions, reject colonial objectification and imagine life beyond oppression.
- Palestinians exemplify facing defeat with resilience, teaching others to historicize and politicize their struggles rather than accept them as inevitable.