Part | May 1968Chapter 1 A Symbolic Revolution "hea of August sem to have doused the fies of May and lashes thi ashes down the sewers. With Pare empl, the streets, then the walls have bee leaned. This eansng han ako wathed our bans vi eread our memories. As a wave laps over a andy beach the ea sen ofndsummer has posse over the many speeches nd Protests of spring Here we are, hack to the law and order” eat 2 Mont of Ystery (he announced ttle of German im) was up ned to have supprinsed and that soon appested ether uniquely ompromised or tolerable, The fr recommence the hore. Here ‘wear bck where we were even fhe wast of fied elation thrown nt the dampsters ‘stl not be said thatthe revolution hasbeen forgotten. Some: thing ina is caught up in i something we cannot nat so as liy The event cannot be dissociate frm the options to which it gare Hie te that apace constituted yen surprising chokes Phat fave modified customary divisions, groups, pate, and comm tis following an unforesen division: A neve topography fs tans forme at eat he's, momen) asa fonction o this plac sag ing up lke a island, the aca map of Keologcal, pial, OF ‘Can this past, which sour past alo be “cleansed”? Was it mercy stave we allen back ino the ep frm which we aa ne last May? Where the icon? Where the eal? The hak behone {Jind selecting once again, but a choice made in crt. tis Jito ou history inorder to make» ivisonfwoen thom one side and illusion onthe other No, in the afterReaf ee cannot cept {he ln simply ofa dividing line that would withdraw all mea sng rom onesie ofthe country and frm one side a ourscves, We fave to come back to tht thing” that happened and understand ‘sha the unpredictable taught us about ouraetve, hat, what ince then, we have become ‘an sbundan literature on the subject has responded to our ne to situate ourselves in regard othe event. attests fo very diver Somes arch andincoien donors sew cD A stake are both disquiet resurgent everywhere oven ‘the most categoria atirmations, as soon as we treo Signing Secity and the mute agreements on Which the contact of language fre fuued? What dsm to understand at ace? As the wise Epistemon pt Something that Radon tact began to st something Eat sna cates the mental hardvare but for tality. Re Instruments were alo pact of what shied, wet awry. Tey eee to something ut tina, hich, last May, eas unveiled while being contested val les taken to be seevdent soil exchanges, the progres of which Was enough to define thelr succes: commodities, the possession of ‘which represent apps. ‘Ania of man nh the immense organizational apparatus of society alge. lily recognized or accepted, this secret rule tras pulled out of the shadows in which t was kecping an onde From Ancré Glucksman to Raymond Aron from Clade Uso Epstémon everyone ofthe authors who reflected on the events has take up in his oer own ay, eat Lenin formerly stata: Wht isimportantin these cries is that they make manifest what hadnt then remained latent But today, what had been made mast as Talent ot force more povterkl than the desogial oe politi ters im the Marais perspective it woul be the proletariat), ‘uta sunt of principles esent to the esabished order, that hae Ame aoe, Wherein der o restore this oe, ca reeons be A Subic Revolution / 5 foun that justify what ts reson was? Conversely, what references ie substituted that are fndamentl for another order? “Inthe ef wn” Pee Emmanuel ad asked Tong a0. The rption I the unthinkable a dangerous for any “specs” 961 fr the nie nation The survival of the te va sk when de roots acoone Te therefore no longer sufics toy that the “evident truths” of mes must Become evident once agin or that socal ie Be res imposible from the moment when iy rots aze exposed 40 eal view Ie doesnot sufie to live asf nothing had happened 3 ome had notte, beneath the assurance ofthe county a eytem rventions that had become fale becuse they wer becoming, jt to debate) andthe ack of other reuse epable of uphoks ng or replacing the shaken orden. This hoe, opened by »socety ht calls ite info question, cannot be covered ever with the mas ‘Sveand normal reaction that has merely refed the voi, cast sie ston that was ail without an answer, ond hasty replaced the ted fora better division of goods on the demand, indict by the Tt was a question of redefining a socal co, atthe end of pe rio that had slowly brought about « distortion between a ational oof society and the sytem of ales that had animated this in the nineteenth century but that snow imposed upon Be yond an always unforeseen ttesold (becuse ie alway inked 1 dents) such a distortions mo longer tolerable Ie des no mean {this syste can be replace, much les that replaced. This sete is perhaps so intimately linked toa ciation that it el hot survive being sertnized, Perhaps oo the courey, bang forced into refining isl while existing, will mo hiner have the Strength to doso, No matter what happens, if we face these recent vents tha blige ust interrogate ourselves and that open UP an uncertain fate, Ido nt believe (nd ho indeed could believe?) ttotit spose to speak of a nevoltion sid and done. Bat she pion fa gl problem, one that quite possibly characterizes 3 ety onthe oof technical atinalzatin and in which he ten ky elucidated ther6 May 1958 symbols the nan ta aft the nie movement pes teas wel sn than Prom he kegoning theo, orn ha of Dal Cohen Corn Charen denier Ree igor on haat ct a way of approaching it) by believing that it wa: oo Oe The revation of May was not explained by any hasty to ious Choracte or ty the destruction of instrument and pods of labor. [athe profesor nor boses ere dely threatened an sort of fespest protected machinery aid Ioratores in tut, more inthe Factores than in the universes) workers pent entre igh in eep- Ing their mater functioning ding the srk; stadentsmaietalned defense guard “The damages—beyond thoes that inevitably ee with the di ‘ondet-—seered to have the allure of sterifies necessary forthe rs af demand Ths the history of May-June was writen in Kee of cus, of overturning or maintaining the autonomous ma thine, at once posse and possesive a symblievoabulay ofa human conduc People were ile but only inspite of extraordinary prections taken avoid lous fife? tern to onder wes nena ad o> Senta for, suddenly a the Binning of June, the ember of deod ‘itm (who wee then considered “normal” o be known aa ora ‘newspaper to publish athe end ofthe summer holiday, this ala ‘rating headin. “1000 deaths priced." The May protesters ‘eer stugeling against helmeted black Martians an upton and {sgmof power inthe ste wheres i contrast the police viokence ros provoked les by the stents -even the "nsurgents’—than bp ther color and, especialy, by the ed fag to the pon here this reaction extended to sverthing rel) or by Hack banners timate ‘sible signs ofa tnt whore horse image had been carefully cl {vated by the anicomsmunit taming given to armed oops. Were {howe strugaesshadowboxng ia whihall the players were cashing ‘vith th phantoms? N they were struggles that were not Bey erence ee Sa seca simply individual ems The revolt was oppo 9 8 A Symbolic Resaton 17 stemyt “demonstrated” sign contrary tothe signs itm sok! the cet ofa social language. In tha way It was a rely a symbie action Tt wat mo les ao int topography, which renewed the cassia sjevutaphy of tikes an ots Fst he Sorbonne ad med toward the'Lelt Bank the parade toward Defer Rocherens the Are de Te me, the Cen, the Stork Exchange the temple of profit” ve postr proinimed), the plpimage ied to Billancourt and soon ‘Got toetion thos that fed to take place, such as he pln og ‘0th Uezch Rado ana Television Serie, which Alain Gls- se clled )—all thse Re tons ined 94 Thay were subversive becase they were chosen or inthe natn, cause hey took the sins ‘hiteatculation ais fhe grain. The sie of knowlege passed nto ths hands oft "abject" 2 sacred linkage overcame the partion ova university stadt and worker "blagpheani” dence ois» theater (al of sce onc inthe he reworks ways anced wth spending beyond calcul) were celebrated ‘ph where accounts had meanest exchangs ocr ha et rend 4g: ‘heme oa vocabulary di not convey, Due tative" change ‘As one sign among many, the aricades ao fad ite meaning in tems of helt logistic vale. They clearly ple poll role that they drove the enormous governmental machine nt aking the ‘Sangenosaltenaive of cpitalating in onto these curtains of pb ‘eso taming the “insurgents” inp aac masters twa loin face Bul ona deeper they ditenchantd 9 socal orga Iizaton By nevi a fagiy inthe space where force was sup oss! og, nd By making posible a power a the very ste where {he feting of powerlessness held wa. ‘dou th symbole weapon ithe converse of strongly an ona ela power theaters by demystivng te “nurs th ‘ohh that power credited It woud funtion ess well ina more Prgiic ganization, ofan American ype for example walls‘is no es in Paso i Moscow than in New York i fs nonetheless ecesary Lo zl the sucesive indo, contadictorychovces to monolithic dotriapostions impel by politics Hence the ne pct of gestures tha llc he system inthe elouy eens fy which claims to receive »venee of htory. Atte outer knit twas aughter can kl power that pays the oe of Jupiter and that thus cannot tolerate it The Creche sed hie weapon ‘masterfully the heaviest tanks in al of Europe rumbled down the Streets of Prague but the banners inserted i he muzcles of thet ‘anon bares made a mockery of them In France, he sane humor ‘id not preva for there was ether the same assurance no hese rainy tad of expressing what neni ihe symbole acon vas aed a. ‘rE oye tee Tabet ve The nlp so in th even hs ral ot nt en a et wt happen q cries tuto ates soci isos ta teeter SER ne sucess fracas Sisto fe pene tec an fete tesa ae ‘peste angi opis he aon ofa ye SEU Sion tha eset nto eat ‘Scomon engine ssl i cvcon een ot ont multe Sica tauneerroneed nee ‘osha Sv omy sents belie hr aay "Rene cte a pants he poate mone per Uri GET enya Cine wn tical bcs dpe th wot toro per mth ha thee ah mind fe vista land ules emirate Wisc apo {nt drgen a omc cc sneha ee ‘Gnu rgd and comely Asn Sj peste Mah 2 Novena pet Te oman {on ching sting cms psi ate tre ara nna drm ci Toe sora input scour pronann is npc er cements a ducaten Cavern nts bead ate ‘oa at cps ssl paces unos et ray ne eve te pene veo hae ucttetur of powers and exchanges ad been constructed and hat tray stl asumed Yo be asl base, From this point of view bolcaction age atnahin ca contin ae: MeTeads ws tower ght fee seen ant most enigmatic lay ota revolution” characterized by des ati hssking of something untenable ight shed on the mechani = onal fortis untenable condition, the cestion of» pace where "neo speech that ects aed refuse fs made posse III esc te rey the nate af ths strange "revoton Both are taken from the important damier that Philippe Lae assembled A young elevater operator from the Simartainedepartenent sore who was boing interviewed By four tls at "really dom now what ny dont ave any ed ‘lo Aen eer “cy at Kies he aD Aha ce Stee eee rc tenet te ebe motes how ham Ta nat hia soue pel redetine ection ard cue? I tere at cuss eteon aking spc a tig maton ‘Stans? anes hea poe ps foe et What as no longer eg, Sata nthe ext Became a margin. The nonparticpation in the socal mechani that ought to ave snared commniction tok the form Stan exteriorty A contesttory interrogation, aiming tts public instttion hats language and that unl the gy ofits founda tons, ha as safety valve nothing ene than an aie of language ‘Speech that hd becomes “symbolic place” designates te pace creat through the distance that separates the represent fom het representations the mozart society andthe mealies of thir evocation Jecrse it announces ‘an unpackingin the density of exchange and avoid adsagreement,‘exactly where the cans ought be ult an hat hey ai to expres I escpes ous of structures, but in onder to nite ‘what cng in therm namic slit and the portation (hose whe arene other. 'No more than becoming conscious, taking speech is nite an sive creation ar thesis poe ‘poche a abr sett ‘els task that day once ‘Tobeliewe it effective omits own Would be to takes fr granted and, oi by magi to lal to conta forces with won, to subsite words or work Bu then to conclude that its meaningless would be 0 lose ‘meaning to puta mechanism in the place ofa stem of relations, nd to suppose, ulna, ha a sory can function without hi man binge "The elections that follow ate bono the cmv hat the ny lusonany” speech of May 196s ambi atin equ the pssdby ny expences hoa ave and aCe tie Fecgtee td a ces nthe vem at iter workings tthe soy Tae to cy Nevin re tttanc for hr sh eure of ned for rea par ola cha fondant sesh” ea nd what fw eh Inge cult er ik or lee hat ad heen {Stoic the cna psn flat he samen ‘sitwarimprsona fesse msl athe da essay Sat eng expe A sch betwee he city fe ‘Sumi and tet of al nattons apne ome ‘ener vk enone and scepter the ae ‘et poo of hugh an acon, the ange a, ay Toes made carte piven ofan tata wage ob won sponds aay Chapter 2 Capturing Speech ‘An Event: The Capture of Speech Las May speech wns te the wy 79 the tile wa ake. The arog at wae sa aK ey he depen Clee knowlege cat ona enlons taent won ‘Ssand woge comers ins ays of ane die From he aking “te Dstt to he aking he Sorbonne betwen ten oy tourane uracteries he evento May 3,196 tod RE et “Ti afmed awk, epee ew ight ight hat has ‘ome etal oth height of sing man nd no longs a ‘Set destined for coset calle o instrument for the srcryrmeve opin ok sce Te ight comarca, ov Spe the enon fase hat were aay prepared od fend whenever appre to be tated inthe het of bate veya oh ight fo peak But hi ig ws oly ven tothe wt spoke ne own tame Te sel et fo bet shower enti wth func intervened in the ame "poup hidden behind he semis fo of members: to speak isnot ote the “speaker” in the mame of ob often and ‘Shptve mith or for concn eld cere ‘And of etal hat eration ot fsa ransormed the inet workings ofthe day of isan lence a fetal stn, But neni ith, the anger sakes fhe Brides ‘rth pychodrama ofa colleive catharsis Something happened fo Samat gen io rin serpin fen who Know where, ‘Selden filng the sts sd the fcc cclating anon ony ‘coming um but no longer ing the mle nose of or so te woes that had never ee hated gant change ws At est nsat was hal we el Frm this something unant f s preuce: It seemed a if i ere for the Hist te Fort fverywere emerged the teases ether astumber oF lat of fr ‘er unspoken experiences At the same ime thal self-assured di- Sours were mie, andl a 00m a “authors” were rede to Slence oven existences melted and suddenly awoke into a prolific ‘morning, Once the metalic carapace ofthe ca was abandoned and the wliary chan ofthe living-oom lesion set broke, with teat fear he mas media cut of consumers threatened ina Tas lvoe and wsvembled in estes wild and stupetied a discover tng its face washed clean of commntics, an unknoven ie surged ‘on ™ esl so that agty duet sexpression as conte SI ose a negation, Therein, perp is greatness tin realty itconstsinstatng “Tam nota thing” Violence ithe gesture that ref al Keeton: “eis.” Thus if those who be Fito speak danythe norm nthe namie which the were delred {be censured othe institutions that wanted to use a ag 2 ee ey on x an autonome at pradesh far the insertion of Autonomy inthe program of an academic or Wade-nion demand Fence he sean of seeing ths demand rpc by reformist mea Ses of another onder Hence to the som for tase who do not speak’ But who only expres thelr fear (nthe pathos of sci ene or of oversaumen ther pola aims in he thetic of ser Stee or tetom’)-e hee power which patent awaits ine) Ths new ight snot ade to ast that aed ang 0 choice that funds and ances ober col, ch ab. crete Son that would turn vason round, or le direct every reason an fay wishes The sme goes for wat remains decides ebout hat Termin And now the fst tpn of his inal inenton are “rendy pt int actin: the diet experience of Semocriy the Pe Imanenc af contestation, he nod fort though the iin ‘ta creative and responsible patlption fo everyone he demand for autonomy and collective management nd abo the ccbation tx ieedom the power ofthe tagination snd pot estiity. We fam also sketch ott this new relon through what iret: 9 “de {sine knowledge whose appresticship woul! tun those aqui ing it inthe struments of system: iastittansenraling each of ree taplay in cases ha are nots owny an authority devoted nt language and in censuringnonconformity and 0 on Tht nt tale we need ot refer to these generalities Gndications ptm tht are henceforth open fo thea of clr re for (rich ite prblematie), butt something more simple i ue mor ail Alou i hasbeen overy Tocalzed —and ars peceved tse ofthe places ia whic twas produced — "a Remon npr than the hms or even the contestation Ac expreaned tin terms pronto he event apse fata ste of aren pance: Acretive that, poetic—experience, "The pot has it (Arne of pects” stated a flyer athe Sorbonne. le fact that we vet elon having see an een pariipants rong became vance Hiden, prhape, ual then (bt hat means tha i as Not ries dpe coped in the lations that fostered i or that 3p rope, ith he ay Cor the aes Vn aplagagen. bonds of solidarity. roused on what elvered con- tows wh every prescription and every diagnosis. It gave every eee to ehey one of these debates that ssl both profes thal bers an howe of sac elles. It changes spectators into wien carlin into dialogue, formation or apprenticeship in sar edge” ino impassioned lecsslons about options invoiing srt thi experience happened 1 mpregrable cannot Be Tht wat oes moan for us? A Choice A aoplcement thas took plac, L would not say in our conception of ‘tee ut inthe expeenc that we Rave a Ths fact Enero- (is i Can it be forgeten? Ana Wot, with what revisions and CeIGt nova are we engaged? Tn any event, is provocative and ‘Rowling involves and trequires a choke Ten if hs moment has not been a moment of tut even iit ithe bof repression and is the explesion ofa Tong rstation, recat tie of madness (madness sometimes heralds the comSng of nw forms of reason), even i hangover came on the ees of the drunken frenzy of spech aa the disenchantment theater ‘math that returned to the days before (everything, fortunately maining subject to discussion a question hasbeen ptf us If ust ‘no est. But now it rsks being lot, eter by being smothered af fer too much excess ooo mach fein the play of foe ha me line srl propelled its ruption, by beng Forgan in hereto it inspired. or by being drowned in the more “serious” objectives of ‘unionized, academic o plies rendjstnents ‘The establishment and analysis of these reforms, the history of ‘movements that have alowed or organized them, willbe taken up slsewhere. They are necessary. But however satisfied We age with the Benefit hat society wil have reaped from the event ve canna ‘racket away the provocative question that summons sity Hel ‘We cannot admit that only afew improvernents need tobe made in {he structures of teaching orn the salaries of workers (very appre ‘lable ess, while Being immersed again in amore fundamental ‘experience woud ease the memery of an nmensecisilusionment. No, we cannot allow ourselves to be distracted inthis way from what ‘is essential For us the tank entails recognizing the tue implication, explaining ts mesning, and uncovering ts practical and theoretical consequences This task ial dhe more imperative in that iis inscribed in the fact st, insoaeas an ineapacy to proportion a exherent ation ith espect to he lve experience is reveled. At far that my Interpretation. What was pastly experienced could ey bee ‘pressed negatively. The experience was the capture of speech, What vas sated was contestation that, by calling the whole system int seston, could only be betayed by every existing organization, By every plies! procedure, or by every renewed inition A male ‘movement fom below excped rom pressing snctures and fan works ut by that wry fact every requisite program and dom were Incking In this socety that denounced te movement cud only beexpreses marginally, whereas, onetiles taleady constitu sn experence for sci Is owen “ret this alo betrayed elty since it merely marked ofa baer without stating what the inner Tandsape was that the experince or ttl reson The Fositon to power but would not succed n constrcing anther tatlenglng the expan of the country’s eal power, we tment” ctl oniy be cd and “coped by any ono hem Fi “te was insrbed in avance nthe global and pennant contest tins The students didnot have height cone f hs El, pls pening event were inthe mane of ew ration fo ‘Sestabished tewen nbres annie workers teen scey an he teaching corp, Lacking ths one would have to opt {eran evanescent stop or conservative “ean the movement ‘wo be sated ints thoasan pees in oder become theo “Sson fora few rts thetheme of erature the source ican anc tthe borders ofthe ation, anarchy of espera Shon pcs Silat Vicor Sege mat ng ago deveso hil! These consecutiv evasion fom the iii 0 ge pre aan ee ctlone toa pefound expan wuld ed so {love that he iia prostation had lend been ana Sts lca tr fat mine om wich to ly exept as i zen Timely want to undesscore the pravity of the question and is ‘cys no enogh to sume a stance of ete tha the in afs meatal yesstance, would sil amount oa denial Without (eg them ofthat which we cek to defend, we cannot abide by Th ther assurance that nis nthe name of an experience hat (ir conopted No longer wil we be stayed by power We n0 itnger nave espe No longer are we bering fo the authori” IF ietESieanganiza its wo incibed, even a strategy thin the ‘Sc of nal ces oer ft change a ste, Ns ‘endef conscone wl neither ermist nor rvoutonary, bat {fa be estnguhed in departures or ther ations or ine {inca request for prtisption node fo ake refuge a (fai emigration or nan elo and ster sistance. Tne sme question reappears onthe ur that the movetnent rectly sought hen ade scse for altura eon. The ak Tie rapa eof al lefts mpact im mater felt. ao reset analyzed in thes ere fori questions the possiblity ‘Seat conto ofa renew wel asthe elation beter ade SBivecxpeence and ourconeeons of elie Theory and Innovation ‘Contestaton bumps ditt int an organization of calkre Bot will {be thoorics tht precedes the events ind some way of curbing their ‘pes by “eyplning ther? In areas where the consciousness hat ety malts for sl wil the experience ofthe past ver have {Sigua Wil itbear an nflaence? WH it displace a common la LENE? Or ce, lit bene by te preceding ess or co-opted Ey Rha sendy thought such sa olen a system capable of TBeabtely biterating it and covering it wth prefabricated slogans? illite “alienated by “human sciences” that are developed enough teat mn iy nm od ong Hino the “acontent” of lization he interpretation that this ‘er eizaton has peeipitated? "Atiis level which cancers the ration between culture and new to of enero, er sl exists a elton of fores Gen aly speaking, we cam aad cserve the fat every te that 3 rn aie wo be bom within am established system, Curent nati Ac tory describe to ws the detours by which a dix Vane or foreman reste shown and is concealed In com eae a scenic language: Novelty remains opoque; * aiden inthe name a what i consciously represents it cane aya” fia fer can Be Dorowed from one wsed in the veer van edpet wo an anfogous cs)? For tas the shape of een tppage or an unexpected emergence. Foe want of Be sto detertine anew mental, node to expres ite tes amor staan that defends it from the established ae png’ in pushing contestation tothe borers o- ease fr fa space of own he essentn” of experience cena the ute surface of a cltre) and under the disguise of aac cones being extracted rom the contested system. Tc ratovate rst ofl to betray ona We have scm it hap en theron Myf in the peo anechocatc ref rors the protests age to theelves by return to 2k roe, nea existentialist, "pritve” asthe later thas wrSeng“reogade” i espet to “poe and second the iP than spte of sl progressively led bck toa fandamenta ‘etm ghetto the Sorbonne, for example in which be eee Gioned aed wien it had tts disposal only so to speak, No en fam the clare othe scences beng ejected (nti (reappeared “massinal reation to public opinion Tesch tata socolgit ofa psychologist an do to lay eeenply the ell coven expesion tok you soto rc ve th heresies tn the appa its techie ar toe raf te apeials’s Knowledge what, for a momen, eliied Tra oh ete fact wisn vast operation that sees 0 “Are ane aberration” (he even se info ystems tha a ee ce Th operation beni rm the hand fom ic 8 tht aes aching nla mechanism ofthe rani ering The pyehologt or the soilogist on this essly vated what tok place ad dterpret the event nthe a eerste exper specialy nd nti opponents ihe the i thatthe themelves put ino circulation or the postions ‘rev tRep el they hove superseded. What emai are nly the many par wh do not ee themselves filing ino Use schemes: er Pocapaindhemoctves the way they are Beng explainedFrom a cltura or sent tandpoln, his recuperate in teepretaon wepresensa reaction analogous to the recuperation [iat by the aor unions orth pital parties How cou things Tnppenothervie? Buti terms more fala ous, the same se i pone time and aan: hw To make mamfet and recognize the ince of a experience that = ba the oeasion and, perhaps, the p= Uictve sign but ot yet the realty of acuta revolution eis ihe that today we ane better aed, intletall Cand soll), to ponder stem inthe rainy tht belongs to ur own typeof [ltcaion than to analyze the process of mutations (mea those fot incre ina homogeneous “development Iisa symptom— Shalrming symptom tht cals fora diagnosis But if we tke cur ent event seriously, we wil be obliged to core his penchant for tautology and 2 lpi Based om the tactful of what Is not the "To the very extent that it happened! upon us the way i lid he event has ofeach us ow cast doubt on mental habits o soca re fexes that vole end us tall it meangless oo Frget its sgn ance. From an epistemological point of view the event puts onthe Sgenda of every dcipline a nes ask a task hat cannot be dso Stel fom » pedagogical ration that a elation with the other ‘The einttoducon ofthis lito into science ithe sme problem as thatot the ten! ina refleton thts too imprisoned by the evel tent of sytem, "a la as this ether to rigid oro vague hing we al eure fsconcemed the task can be envisage om the bast of to immed fate data on the one hand, the character ofthe “demonstrations that twee len poduce onthe other the concep insane Tae by recent works. This double reference can allow tt asich [nanatyis hat woul be the eetlse— om, ome prefers the exper ientaton-—of the very problem that will be faker sp: our proce {Toe will be proportions it permis us, simultaneously, to make fmterpreations asa function of the event and to inscribe the event Into the ester of ou tore apparatus Without this confront ton, the proces of hiking, both scetiie and practical, would never tbe deployed except acordig to its amumptions ot evidence,” Taker up in jutiying and in nulpying fs own conditioning, and Ineliinating ll contestation by en proces inkation. Co ‘ere the oialty woul! be diverted toward aberration n onder {ope reduced tomothing more than» cya pep a resistance lacking + vocabulary, an ime silence. Once again, we cannot consent tc withot some mental cowardice, but also, Ibeleve, without re ening what most fundamental it, ts most eset chale Kenge that opts for personal ruth unveiled in commnication and tht is ts mot abslute experience on the language of sot “accident” or Principle? \We cao be sts with this ntl form that contestation thes ves fat ofall etalk about lt Lake the event it eins by being, “havea, and often an autobiographical, eyewitness account Bat saan ene nt language remains surreptitious. Is placed under lhotatr ofthe ar whoever alles speech lo acepte, no dou Ice of the person's modest, and because fr that Eason he oF Inca cally Be flr bya socket strong enough to sallow 2 [neg clement and make use of Welt lays goes tothe cha (CitStntetured secety takes advantage oa protest by the minority ul the situation changes when, going beyond the fac that some opie captate spech in a strcture inoculated against this kind of evi ome begins fo wonder if the act of taking spesch snot or Most not become the consis prin of society aor. when Iheescepton assumes the weight of ule; when the “acide” as- Mies cera proportions, At that point Becomes a subversive inte The whole system i ills into question. rom the stand Fino cent theory of clare, is thus crucial to kaw fhe ited tet can either be explained” o is revolutionary sre jes edevelopment in theory ort tums top rey: To be sure he alternative i both econamics an polities never appears in such simple termes but fr al that it no fess eal OF reecing nthe fae of his option, conformist thinking has the knee ill ofthe fst ypotess, and it hopes— with the lindness is ply or is alveté—that the problem wil be decided in 2 “amt fashion, monde, the, pas, ee be to anes cme iMitiam of anew majority. This prilege granted to quantity con ins in adhering to “option.” As fara kos, the Tae has never Ion manted to «requirement of ruth! Rather, an endless divorce ures ther oven if tel lo beieve that we are thinking (chee we thinkin confority with ther. Router concrn can cllectively Ge the event in that it = yuiess mcang of an, in tat bens something an that anacon by feng deployed, ples and appeals oa theoreti ev Intion, Those who ingire oft have to discern aed elaborate th plton through a bor that aims les 8 “making” the revolution than in exloning tight where ts manga, but without yt be ing quantitatively imposed and thas without being anything other than a ne psi This where there operates in i of fection, a labor necessary coordinated with a ative fo) the 6 tion hat questions polical apparatuses or economic systems Already the aw ofits thinking mo longer has the fonction of protecting the laws soy ‘But the problem enalls knowing if such an event endowed withthe vale of “principle oer words analysis must show how a qualitative change is alredy made manifest that i, reval onary although staat nly 2 minority. “Symbolic” Demonstrations In this respect the only ultimate cierion i experience when it be- coms both the reducible clement of existence and is wager An fvunt i not what can be seen or known about it happening, bat ‘shat t becomes (and, above all for Us). This option is grasped only Inn ae not by observation. therefore cat what happened Inet May has become for many an inaugural or reveling even. But this fimation fot telling enough when it remains athe evel of biography "I was there, ha’ what meant for me” An refuable, bt persona face. Thus we have learned something more and dle nt which rectly concern theory. na soil system, a relationship fof forces can aly plo the couse of is mutation. Paradoxical, this lesson was rite int the most suspect aspect and ao the taset to "explain" of current evens their symbole character, hat Isha promis us o speak now, and unmistakably ofa failed re ‘lation symbolic revation, ater ass proved by the nature of the gestures through hick, ft of al swan expressed Ba inorder to-understand this symbolism, ve mis Tbebiee, get beyond a de- serption ofthe place in which it was anchored, beyond "exemplary ‘Movements can only make se of terms Belonging to an etal lished onder, and yet already evince its overthrow A displacements sffsted bat legible as Such ins expresion since I uses the ‘ocnbolry and even the syntax of known dom: but arses” tu the way the onan changes the son by giving ia if Moray: Nadu bares te onan pan, whi rem fa {ul othe writen nes, excep fo the rime he orgs a tae, tis snglvsendaton othe testo ing made The on se potently adequate, ut as sgn Phenomenon Wate feret amp cltrecan Be ied nae aj sietslippage whe suf word nd gestures so ye the, iesShne econ tncoutcent etn everyone Tas ote vt nines esters rom hi normal se, contig am each vellevery ene a sew statu that symbeeo an expeince oer ithe oe they ganze. Today. hs ofits Hecate of Sst transposition i fonmnable becuse ts deceptive: at rcs a it fle what ned ost reuse ntepreations. vat folded nt a langage hat lows 0 fo uo. (ee has decepive becouse makes ines posible is pre Sted av awn comme, Ths the explanations ae nt eo eens ought the cis ow» epee” oe stage” aspect Fenny option, the syebolm wool bboy stadt wore tetine ab een, an moginary opiate fo action ate yy the ht wl earth nal hs a Petros, svictya commune ol the workers ology Fours pi, 1 tam of ysterge eognze ow much the ne ft es ‘Sear eventrand tends tobe end hs, denen rom eo (eutShekhave sine tecome legen, the ads erated 9 sre can no longer be spontaneous ad tha il be repented Seca over gay tne vest wl all no dishonoe {hes nt have sows barca. The historian can righty ea ‘easing place what already tok ples. Thats tre enough vt not re ot the vation canbe explained though eke ree tae lady een egal ut embed in erent Stays Press yo ving py Pa one poste proces Tinton moa moneoer bestrange fo socologiel hsorians In aboring the lesion blag the presen the new staging ler eplodes a double contacto would est, On the one thot csc hstorans would ao hat conteayt what thy ome be tacking hing everSoppened sine in pine itso sould be expand the sume ey as cate events: iar enderaning othe present ould jag that te pst. On ther fund: y wenn the stra rogeents ith whicthey would keto piece together the pz othe pst they wou not gasp the fact thatthe “staging isthe event itl, that the ew stats acon toler “ign” makes lnguage cede ha Aid not conform to these figures sm short to what they were unable twoxpross ‘aycholgits would ako miss the markt the events they Were ‘only fo see them (which is, moreover, obvious the theater of frustration, a "Rogeian paler" a collective paychounays, lt mately, the broadly based “application” of plenomena that have been analyzed for Years given to therapeutie Sn scientific expt tion, and entirely familiar to stent in shot, the momen ex ample of the “docsine sadied above.” A theory that takes 35s theme (and often fora taboo} "what is happening” would be pe siely the means of eliminating whats appening here and now. I ‘woul be discreetly but surely and once mor, th ll he teoppings ‘ofa justification since the heterogeneous element hasbeen Pio ‘lined ‘We thus are choosing a type of clr, of ith, and, quite mpl, of profession: we are making » global choke that reveals our per sonal options as soon as we ar ed by the event, ner more ose sub an hen fons to bide by’this proposition tat ny opin jomis contradictory: "We know what is happening.” This knowlege lenies in avance the possibility ofthe at that it claims to know ‘ssuming that notingcan happen eter than what we alesdy think is happening, 50, here hen i the event hat ts wht we know ino some thing symbolic I affects ou conceptions of sayin every one of its forms: Fundamentally st concerns the esagogical relation i that ‘ittouches on acidem, Bat abo fami, ntti ana broader sense, the relation betreen cadres and thir aden cncctive of fiers and those minstrel, governing people an people governed, imother word, every station in ehich the relation with ers dents, children, te) fot nthe el of» mn language, Put Inet witha perticular meaning bythe patcpants whe occupy & Poston of force We must not only tbserve Bit algo adi that ut {estes and ur history are likly torturous with 9 meaning that takes us by surprise: that ou own woes can express an exper tence that isnot contrary to (or that wou be form of the Sa) ‘but ierent fom our on that they become the insured of 2 protsation, the voeabulary of thers Captain Sp AL the very Ist, ts psi that students by mimicking the Commune or rp dynamic, or th workers, by repeling 193638 Ni uion content al by demanding rain ary, aren ety lating this language in ays oer than those for which tha ben ve unl or, ad already investing a new reulrement In these tno thew ional demands. believe that hi what fat ake rght now Is ola persona interpretation, and who among ‘os would not hesitate Before the complonty ofthe facts? Bu there ‘won blindness at ingulring ino hs pssiity and in elim gt hypothe tat may have taken pace The moves soy coher the est is suscepable to change Fr ney medications produced splintered movernents that na loose il webbing ee expressed by new checks a Balan. teat ‘ror the sme way in he immense sytem of today sytem whose "vanes, laws, and combinations have been analyoed by so many tractralims, economic thors, and politcal analy. Yet fr all ht, change has not Boe eliminated. Long delayed by censare and noe powerful intgratins the ene framework is Ou of it. By froming larger and larger the system can only allow global comtes {ations because tis rpresing arial changen The onde of ttl ‘arian soil systems that of revotons Tis fist becomes perceptible inthe slippage ofthe ene sys- los and the gap Ss expresed in the new eeticen hat fects tality A soca langage ts Becomes “symbolic” wherever i les anew status signifies a qualitative change that not yet a "juansatve change. Hee the symbol does ot reer 4 what We a ‘dy Knove or what oe have already deine, but byway of hat ‘neknow to that of which we ae unaware: an advent that afects the ‘nol. Ie means tht our on kroledge has become the language Ut others and of another experience. That is exactly what happened Inthe "human sciences” the orginay sit ofthe crisis a Knowledge hat organized eltions according tothe model and in the service af consumer society found tal “taken” ins different way, occupied” ly thon who tcay dear that they santo speak ot on tei on account, es "broken than “berated” by thm fr thelr use, of the manning thal we were acing tit. The system te has coe symbolic It tate im known terms an innovation that had remind ‘iknow, ‘This revolution sta our knowledge from behind, It has what t seeds to brguileus. Because it ube tranaponed scent, hitore or cultural language offers us in advance al the nas for a recuperation tha il lane ut and this s more serous, his language also rss betraying those who speak it differently. What indlation an if may say wat proof do they have of being diferent (snc, alimatly, thy language she same and any professor or union lender can demon. strate to them? Only the ndamenta experince tat for some ‘ais ieducble and fr many others confased, which tata a the capture of spooch Wil workers be le to believe that sky they want ony a raise in wages, and students some pedasopia te forms? Wil they be taken by ready-made wonds put bere the, sn thas be “taped?” by the lg ofthe system they anes fo xntest the general late of things? They rik being the pawns th speech they thought they had berate. tn order ete what they az, they have ony the ew ute they make of these wor they have ‘erie rom others. This ew, fai tah that makes up tel exp rience canbe taken aay by the constraint of a language of which they are not the authors. The expression they have Laken fom the system they are contesting canbe tured agin them, Tey have no ‘other guarantes hit might assure ther oft bing ara noc ing an experience of ther own. Ther demonstration sym Its stat ha langage ‘A tsk coresponds to this ambiguity. No response exists other than thes taken in the name of certainty. Bat inthe nat of Ee tsk, something iredutbe has asad ted lange an i fon whose insufficiency states —or claims to slate the necsoory fac: fe nthe future canbe lived only by alienating one's speech lust as existence wil end when we Begin a renounce te emt Chapter 3 The Power of Speech In Charlie Chaplin's The Gall Rush (125), the swing winds ofa Iiizant push the cabin i which he tramp is spending the might to ‘sige faci. After waking up he walks atross the rom to the door With his ootsteps the abn tarts dangerously yy With the doorway opening onto thin iI he opens the door he wi instant death, When he backs up, he brings the cab back io rst but hes enclosed in a sesperate state of fair, Now and yin his eet go forward, then rezeat gngery touting the floor ‘ot pivots on ts insbe ans The image of space in which is ‘sully impossible tive and to ave comparable to the situation that was endured ast May: Fr the inhabitants ofan ene seit ‘hse nothing more than a docreay opening onto chaos nd sec ty anchored in conforms? Many signs indicate tata change has taken place Drawn by unexpected chokes, ine hereafter demarate, twvtween orderand speech, ou cultural “fo” Ald fil inc, thas vailated frm the one tothe other, Two opposite movement in Mayan June show how th ground hs ten shifting, The events have shown that they originate from tester the lft or the right because thr takes conform othe same Ins, Their to reactions scl athe the movement tht led the ‘ramp to the back o he cabin otha brought hin fowerd the empty suc ouside. But today there are any more people who obey fhe low ofa reaction that socks equim Thee number provisionally fesurs the stability ofthe ean, and they even have the over ow othe door as “adventurists,” people who neve wanted eect. Others prefer exile whether metal or pial frm this sowed onder