In Theory Certificate Book Discussion - Wesleyan University

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In Theory Certificate Book Discussion - Omens of Adversity

Participants
David Scott and Lily Saint

Omens of Adversity is a profound critique of the experience of postcolonial, postsocialist temporality. The case study at its core is the demise of the Grenada Revolution (1979–1983), and the repercussions of its collapse. In the Anglophone Caribbean, the Grenada Revolution represented both the possibility of a break from colonial and neocolonial oppression, and hope for egalitarian change and social and political justice. The Revolution’s collapse in 1983 was devastating to a revolutionary generation. In hindsight, its demise signaled the end of an era of revolutionary socialist possibility. Scott argues that the palpable sense of the neoliberal present as time stalled, without hope for emancipatory futures, has had far-reaching effects on how we think about the nature of political action and justice.

DAVID SCOTT is Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University and editor of the journal Small Axe. He is the author of many books and essays, including Formations of Ritual: Colonial and Anthropological Discourses on the Sinhala Yaktovil, Refashioning Futures: Criticism after Postcoloniality and Conscripts of Modernity: The Tragedy of Colonial Enlightenment.

LILY SAINT is Assistant Professor of English at Wesleyan. Her research explores the nexus of ethics and cultural practice in the Global South. She is currently writing a book, Acts of Culture: Ethics and Genre in South Africa, which considers how black aesthetic practices in twentieth-century South Africa contributed to ethical relation during a period largely characterized by ethical crisis.

March 5th 2015 • 4:30 PM • Russell House

Excerpts from the book are available to all audience members.
For the readings, please contact Matthew Garrett (mcgarrett@wesleyan.edu or x3598).

Social, Cultural and Critical Theory Certificate
www.wesleyan.edu/theory 

Wesleyan University