18 Theses on the Reactionary
In times such as these, with the ascent of reactionary politics the world over our capacity to grasp what is progressive hinges on our ability to identify that which is not so. Ambiguity here, under the many blanket categories that it uses, such as ‘gas-lighting’, manipulation, or intimidation no longer cut it as while generically accurate they do not depict the situational intervention which characterizes the act of the reactionary. This is not a demonology for the writer identifies in himself, as he is sure, with all others, the utility of a circumspect distance which a subject may choose to withhold for themselves when encountering that which is new or strange. The terms used to apprehend this however are, as is characteristic, often inhibitions, expressions of mock-shock, outrage, and complacency afforded only by a position or station in one’s life that facilitates a relation with labour as a means of rent. For such is how capitalist relations in India, on the 6th of May, 2021, amidst a global Coronavirus pandemic yet remain. In these circumstances I believe it is important to identify the stance, mood, apprehensions, inclinations, and perhaps even the beliefs that characterize the reactionary in their grasp of a world which does not abide by their categories. And, to this end, I present the following theses.