Paper short abstract

In this talk I explore the possibilities of reading for social change in Russia. In looking at the ways in which in Moscow activists stage public poetry readings of Victor Serge - a Russian revolutionary writer - I examine how literature becomes a pivotal place for insisting on a political "otherwise."

Paper long abstract

In this talk I am interested in exploring the possibilities of reading for social change in Russia, and beyond. In taking my cue from the ways in which in Moscow artist-activists stage public poetry readings of Victor Serge - a Russian revolutionary and writer - I examine how literature becomes a pivotal place for keeping in view a political "otherwise." By otherwise I mean political configurations alternative to Russia's current anti-democratic and economically divisive formations, as well as anthropological modes of thought that differ from, for example, the calculations of electoral politics or the supposed effectiveness of social movements. Habitually, political anthropologists tend to be wary of the power of art to initiate change in the world. In this talk I center on recognition as one mode of investigation of opening up new political terrains - terrains for which notions of enchantment, knowledhe, and desire are also important.

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