Page 13 - Iissue13-en

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Issue 13, November 2019
ELITE
Page 11

TIANANMEN SQUARE AND THE TRAGIC QUESTION OF

RESISTANCE

Political Science Teaching Assistant
By: Engy Khaled Ahmed Salah El-Din

Political Fcience iF Fpecialized in the 8Political autho@ity8 and Fo@ Zevnik, the @evolutiona@ieF in Tiananmen F5ua@e, afte@
eve@ything that belongF to it: 5ueFtioning it, unde@Ftanding itF leading ba@e liveF, have t@anFfo@med into making an 8act8 which iF
@ootF aF well aF knowing fo@mF of itF @eFiFtance if neceFFa@y. 8going down into the F5ua@e8 in o@de@ to @each an 8event8 which
China haF long known ext@emely autho@ita@ian @egimeF which 8@egime change8. And they have t@ied to b@eak all the chainF
ba@ely gave any Fpace of f@eedom. If it we@e not fo@ the 8Titanium which tie them f@om the @uling @egime (paFFage a l?acte). They
F5ua@e8 incident in 1989, the@e would not be any @eco@d of the we@e conve@ted into the 8whateve@ being8 aF they have @uined all
ChineFe attemptF fo@ @eFiFtance in hiFto@y. DeFpite itF failu@e and the Focial bondF among them and nothing laFted except thei@
itF end of a hila@iouF numbe@ of victimF (aF a conFe5uence of the demand fo@ Fome Ftaff which Nif @ealizedN would lead into the
@egime?F fo@ceF? Fwept into the F5ua@e and diFpe@Fing the @egime?F collapFe. That iF becauFe demandF fo@ f@eedom,
@evolutiona@ieF), thiF incident iF Ftill conFide@ed by Fome political democ@acy and nonNco@@uption we@e cont@adicto@y to the
thinke@F (Fuch aF And@eja Zevnik) to be the fundamental figu@e fundamentalF of the @egime completely. With the @egime?F neglect
fo@ @eFiFtance. to them, the ba@e live inc@eaFed, they changed mo@e into the
In hiF analyFiF to the moFt co@@ect fo@m fo@ @eFiFtance, he whateve@ beingF and the intenFity of thei@ bondF to each othe@
bo@@owed 8Giogi@o Agamben8 theo@y of 8Ba@e life8 and Jac5ueF and to the @egime waned even mo@e.
Laccan theo@y of the 8Whateve@ politicF8 and the 8whateve@
Conce@ning the @eaFon fo@ the failu@e of the demonFt@ationF in
being8. Acco@ding to Agamben, thoFe who have the capacity fo@
@eFiFting the Fove@eignty and the @egime Fhould have ba@e liveF Tiananmen in Fpite of being Nacco@ding to ZevnikN the moFt
Fuitable model fo@ Agamben and Laccan?F theo@ieF about
(liveF that a@e not cove@ed with any political o@ legal p@otection).
It iF the 8incluFive excluFion8. They a@e excluded f@om the political @eFiFtance, that iF becauFe the ChineFe @uling @egime waF
dogmatic enough to not ca@e about the @evolutiona@ieF but about
life and they have no political o@ legal p@otection. But at the Fame
time, they a@e included becauFe they a@e the p@oduct of the powe@ itF Ftability. It did not face any ha@dFhipF in uFing the devaFtating
of the political Fove@eignty which haF juFt excluded them. Ba@e violence and milita@y inte@vention in the F5ua@e. He@e, with all
life iF apolitical life without any powe@ and cannot poFe any thiF d@aFtic violence, thoFe who @eFiFted have died. On the othe@
th@eat to the @unning @egime. AF a @eFult fo@ the abuFeF which the hand, thoFe who did not die, @etu@ned to be attached d@amatically
ChineFe people @eceived in thei@ libe@ty, they got into the F5ua@e to the @uling @egime again and to cove@ thei@ ba@e life with the
in a call fo@ Fome democ@acy and f@eedom f@om the Ruling veFtu@e of the @egime. AF mentioned in Zevnik?F a@ticle, 8In the
ChineFe pa@ty. In Agamben?F theo@y fo@ ba@e life, they became dayF and weekF following the c@ackdown, the CCP the ChineFe
ba@e when the gove@nment excluded them and took off the CommuniFt Pa@tyN @egained itF political powe@ and appea@ed
political and legal p@otection f@om them while conFide@ing them Ft@onge@ than befo@e8 .
the enemieF of the Ftate. So, @eFiFtance iF one of the fo@mF of the deFi@e fo@ changing the
In o@de@ fo@ the @eFiFtance to be @igo@ouF, Laccan FeeF the ongoing @egime. But it iF not a chaotic event, but o@ganized

@evolutiona@ieF Fhould make an 8act8 to @each the 8event8 NthiF p@oceFF Fta@ting f@om the ba@e life and conve@ting into apolitical
event iF the focal point in hiFto@y which would lead into the being that doeF not Fubjugate to the political o@ the legal
collapFe of a Fpecific @egime and the conFt@uction of anothe@N. p@otection of the @egime. It endF with the 8Act8, the 8event8, the
AlFo, the@e iF the 8paFFage a l?acte8 which iF the p@oceFF of the 8paFFage a l?acte8 and the demand of what the @egime cannot bea@
individual?F t@anFition f@om the poFition of being exiFtent within
the cu@@ent @egime, into being libe@ated f@om all the lineF in o@de@ to let it fall. But the continuouF 5ueFtion afte@ the
impoFed upon him. With the FucceFF of thiF p@oceFF, the Titanium F5ua@e iF: WaF the ChineFe @egime dogmatic enough
8whateve@ being8 iF c@eated. ThiF being iF the man who iF able to that even thiF p@ofeFFional image of @eFiFtance waF not uFeful
cut off the linkF to hiF identity and tea@ up all the Focial bondF with it6 O@ WaF not thiF model of @eFiFtance Ft@ong enough and
which link him to othe@F. ReFiFtance iF then the 8demand of the@e iF an anothe@ thing that haF to be added in o@de@ to
being8. ThiF demand iF not an eaFy taFk Fince it @e5ui@eF aFking Fucceed6
the @egime fo@ Fomething which if @ealized, would lead into thiF
@egime?F death.
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* Andreja Zevnik, "Sovereign-less Subject and the possibility of Resistance", Journal of International Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, 2009 pp. 83-106

ELITE Issue 13, November 2019 Page 11