Politics of Negativity

How is it possible to say ‘no’ – to contradict, oppose, reject or deny something? Philosophy of the last two centuries draws attention to the paradox of negation, which cannot help but reaffirm what it pretends rejecting. Nevertheless, at least since Hegel, ‘negativity’ became an essential ingredient of modernity to the point that all major concepts of modern thought – such as subjectivity, freedom, and revolution – seem to necessarily imply a positive evaluation of the negative.

20th century philosophy may also be read as a desperate search for absolute negativity, one that would not have anything positive in it and would therefore represent a pure act of disjuncture. However, such an absolutely negative attitude displays a troubling melancholic side too: instead of negating something, the epoch of negativity may end up simply ‘willing nothing’. What happens then when negativity goes awry? The first issue of Stasis reflects on the possibility of rehabilitating the virtues of the negative as an antidote to resist political melancholia and turn it into new revolutionary theories and practices.

Stasis is a peer-reviewed bilingual journal (English/Russian) in social and political theory, which is published by the European University at St. Petersburg. Stasis means at once a particular position, an interrupting suspension, and an uprising. The first issue includes articles by Ray Brassier, Sami Khatib, Vitaly Kosykhin, Artemy Magun, Jamila Mascat, Gregor Moder, Benjamin Noys, and Oxana Timofeeva.