Quick Review- The lecture for Florian Cramer and Stewart Home took place
yeterday at the excellent looking event 'Disruption Network Lab' in Berlin, was
a fascinating exploration of the complex cultural and political histories that
make up aesthetics of transgression that threads through the avant garde.
Luckily the talk will be archived shortly as watching the live stream was a
challenge.
The talk was rich in case studies that reminded us of the continuing potence of
transgression as a weapon in the battle for the social mind. It was extremely
valuable as it included but moved beyond the claims that the Alt.right has
'stolen' the left's transgressive cloths. In fact they used the talk to
demonstrate that historically these codes are politically interchangeable. From
the outset and the history of the avant garde (arguably from de Sade) has
harboured as many examples on the far right as on the left. With many
partularly today hovering in a space of deliberate ambiguity.
Behind the blizzard of fascinating allusions and crossovers was the recognition
of the hollowness of the claim that these subcultural languages and tropes have
been ‘ ppropriated'. As the claim that carries the implication that
transgressive energies are the property of or intrinsically belong to, one side
or the other. As Florian made it clear in the Q & A transgression is a tool
that can be used by either side.. Even going so far as to argue that 'hate' as
an emotional register that we should not see as the sole property of the right
(hating your job and your boss can be the first step to changing your life).
In all of this there is an implicit critique of Angela Nagle's influential
position that transgressive tropes and sub-cultures inevitably lead to a
nihilistic fascism.. (by "flogging the dead horse of edginess")
To my mind the only problem with the discussion was that in flattening out the
potency of transgressive sub-cultures as politically inter-changeable there was
a danger of missing out the 'power question'. There is a need to be clearer in
articulating where (in terms of political practice) the differences between
subcultures of the left and those on the right might currently be. This was
highlighted for me in the Q&A when someone asked whether there was anything we
might take from the Alt.right or any opportunities it this movement had broken
open. Neither speaker seemed to think it had.
I disagree, I would argue that the far right (which is founded on the
‘worshiping' power of own sake) is understandeably more comfortable with the
idea of contesting and occupying the principal seats of power. The difference
between the new transgressive sub-cultures on the right.. what they have
brought to the table in 2016 was an effective trajectory (masterminded to some
degree by Bannon who was quick to understand the dynamics at play) from the
back alleys of the internet to the principal seats of government. This is a
'trick' or 'mind-set' that equivalent sub-cultures on the left badly need to
learn.
David Garcia
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