[DEBATE] : (Fwd) German journal invites 'militant research' articles

[Patrick Bond]

khan.berlin at googlemail.
Mon, 18 Aug 2008 04:49:08 -0500

Call for papers: Militant Research
arranca! #39

A german version of the call can be found on www.fels-berlin.de.

Old theoretical constructions lose their strength in the contemporary 
shifts and transformations; traditional practices of resistance are 
often toothless. How can we overcome these shortcomings of leftist 
politics? One strategy, which has become more popular, prefers to ask 
questions instead of giving answers. This method is often derived from 
the 'conricerca' which was developed by the Italian Operaists. In 
Germany this method is better known as the militant investigation or 
activating enquiry. Militant investigations have an ambitious claim: 
They want to overcome the division between theory and practice on the 
one hand and simultaneously overcome the division between the 
investigator and the investigated on the other hand. There is more to 
militant investigations than asking questions. It is more than 
navel‐gazing or an investigation of the self – preceding the 
investigation is a strategic discussion and a conscious positioning in 
the political sphere. Ultimately it is not about a clear analytical and, 
on top of that, random interest; it is about the way to proceed with 
social struggles and to combine different struggles.

For a long time it was quiet around militant investigations, but now 
more and more political groups do such investigations or take similar 
approaches: Euromayday Milano, Euromayday Vienna, FelS and Euromayday 
Hamburg at the Berlinale and the Documena, Precarias a la deriva, 
Colectivo Situaciones, Team Colors and the Kleines Postfordistisches 
Drama are some examples. The next issue of arranca! will give an 
overview of the origins of militant investigations and reflect on actual 
efforts that took place. Beyond that, it will be a tool box for those 
who want to research concrete social struggles. What is the history of 
militant investigations and where are the traces to its contemporary 
usage? From where does the actual interest in militant investigations 
arise and why is there so little exchange on the results and methods? 
Which strategies exist? Who asks whom and how and why? Which conclusions 
from the previous Investigations exist and which problems occurred? So 
far, what are the open questions and blind spots and where are the 
fruitful connections? Which role do militant investigations play in the 
critique of existing social conditions and which one do they play in the 
practice of changing them?

We would like to invite you to reconstruct the concept of the militant 
investigation, to connect, to review, to shine a light, to develop it 
further or to condemn it. We look forward to articles, reports, 
discussions, proposals and fancy stuff. Please send a short proposal – 
with around 500 to 1000 symbols – “ until the 27th of August 2008 to 
arranca at nadir.org.

Dead line for the finished articles is the 25th of October 2008.

Links: Euromayday (1) (2) Precarias a la deriva (1) ( 2) (3) (4) 
Colectivo Situaciones (1) ( 2) Kleines Postfordistisches Drama (1) (2) 
Team Colors (1) (2) ( 3) Transform ( 1) Peter Birke (1 ).

arranca! | Für eine linke Strömung | c/o Schwarze Risse | 
Gneisenaustr. 2a | 10961 Berlin
arranca.nadir.org | arranca at nadir.org