Category Archives: genocide

Columbus Day: Ralph Ellison and the Waters of Meribah

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Tim McGee

My previous post suggested that attempts to construct the proper grounds on which to meet the other is an attempt to control the relationship, even if that comes masked in good intentions.  What must be clarified is that to reach … Continue reading →

Posted in ethics, fanon, genocide, history, levinas | Leave a comment

Pragmatic Identity

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Tim McGee

“The Gospel of Christ is a shattering disturbance, an assault which brings everything into question”  Karl Barth, __The Epistle to the Romans__, 225. “We are under grace, and we are ourselves the objective of its attack” Karl Barth, 216.   … Continue reading →

Posted in barth, genocide, identity | Leave a comment

utopian genocide

Posted on May 14, 2009 by Tim McGee

“Genocide, after all, is an exercise in community building…[Genocide] was promoted as a way not to create suffering but to alleviate it.  The specter of an absolute menace that requires absolute eradication binds leader and people in a hermetic utopian … Continue reading →

Posted in bonhoeffer, ecclesiology, genocide, gourevitch, utopia | 3 Comments

Civilizing the World: Missionaries, Hutus, and Tutsis

Posted on May 4, 2009 by Tim McGee

During the “exploration” and colonization of Africa, European intellectuals kept stumbling upon a disturbing fact:  the Africans were not always the uncivilized brutes they ought to have been.  According to racist ideology–summarized beautifully and disturbingly by Hegel–true Africa (and Africans) … Continue reading →

Posted in genocide, mamdani | 10 Comments