The Consequence of Resistance

520 Pages·2017·4.19 MB·English

The Consequence of Resistance: Interrogating Heidegger and
Butler on the Conundrums of Ableism
Author
Seguna, Josephine Angela
Published
2014
Thesis Type
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
School
Griffith Law School
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/508
Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
Downloaded from
http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365924
Griffith Research Online
https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au
The Consequence of Resistance
Interrogating Heidegger and Butler on the Conundrums of

Ableism

By

Josephine Angela Seguna
BHuServ (Hons) Griffith University

Griffith Law School
Arts Education and Law
Griffith University

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

May 2013
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DEDICATION

To Charles, James, Simon and Katherine-Anne

To know how to question means to know how to wait, even a whole lifetime...What is
essential is not the counting but the right time...the right moment and the right endurance.

Martin Heidegger (Introduction to Metaphysics 2000 [1935]: 221)

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ABSTRACT

The Consequence of Resistance is a philosophical investigation into the writings of Martin
Heidegger and Judith Butler to unravel the character and disposition of social resistance to the
disabled individual. The qualitative analysis moves beyond physical considerations of the
dis/abled body to probe, investigate and challenge the essence and performativity of
conventional constructions and interpretations of society’s dismissive attitudes, manner and
the discriminatory behaviours and language that remain resistant to the ‘Being’ of those
Others. The phenomenological nature of the endeavour is underpinned by autobiographical
insight offering a ‘counter’ discourse to the sustained systematic careless banter of community
and common expectations of ‘rationality’, ‘freedom’ and ‘equality’. The disabled identity is
identified and explored through the vested interests and obstinacy of normative/ableist
complex institutional, political and cultural structures, and legal ‘mythologies’. Indeed, the
persistent discriminatory character of such social limits of ‘disability’, along with its
oppressive marginalisation and relentless invisibility, is highlighted and articulated through the
lens of Critical Disability Studies and Studies in Ableism.
Martin Heidegger’s basic existential ‘Being’, Dasein, in constant interaction with others
negotiates its best possibilities of being-in-the-world. Humankind’s pursuit of an ‘authentic’
existence is the struggle for individuality, freedom from submission to uniformity, consensus,
passivity and resistance to the social conformity, anonymity and apathy of present
organisations and cultural determinants. Individual authenticity lies in the confrontation with
‘truth’ through the Care of Others (Mitsein), making sense of existential possibilities of Self
and taking responsibility for one’s involvement in social practices. Resistance to dif-ference as
the essence of das Man and its discourse of idle conversation remains restrictive and
challenging to the disabled identity. Language for Heidegger is an ontological condition, a
sharing of perception and understanding that provides for otherness to be an experience and
reflection of undefined spaces rather than definitions framed within oppressive normative
classification and expectations.
Equally, Butler’s theoretical disruption to the binaries establishing social and individual
‘identity’ offers a context to consider ‘other’ subjectivities. Social performativity as a crucial
constituent of political construction and social regulation of disability demonstrates the
historical representation and framing of discriminatory language, behaviours and attitudes
perpetuating the righteousness of the abled-bodied individual. For Butler, vulnerability turns
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an individual ‘condition’ into the public function of cultural expectation and consciousness,
and affords consideration of ‘violence’ linked with ‘disability’, for reiterative patterns maintain
the exploitation associated with preserving the normative status. Exclusion and retribution
associated with transgression mark some Others as unintelligible and unravelling the ‘limits’,
‘tensions’ and performatives of the ungrievable life provide for a new language of
nonviolence.
In a three-part interrogation, this dissertation magnifies current oppressive and sustained
assumptions maintained in: (a) the construction of physical and social barriers of ‘impairment’
rather than social recognition of repressive resistance to their ‘Being’; (b) discursive failing;
and (c) inequalities inherent in contemporary language and social awareness. Specific legal
judgments are also consulted to disclose the fabricated ‘fixity’ of disability in law and the
reality of leaky identities. Heidegger’s concepts of disclosive freedom and Language are used
to theoretically redefine justice and legal rhetoric to substantiate the destructive ‘truth’ of
‘formal equality’. Butler’s theory of performativity re-characterises the nature of individual
behaviour, autonomy and social interaction, and reveals the language of ‘rights’ as political
and legal tactics regulating the ‘folklore’ of normative discourse. The injustice and ‘violence’
of beliefs, practices and institutions of the They are visible in the lived experiences of disabled
individuals. Yet the strength of these Other voices will be heard by anyone willing to listen to
the ‘truth’ of their existence, recognise the prejudiced position of otherness and think about
belonging and the possibilities of ‘Being’.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To acknowledge …
The act of owning or recognizing a particular quality, association or relationship.
Recognition of the existence of authority, ‘truth,’ giveness.
A proclamation of genuine, courteous recognition or admission of obligation or
responsibility.
The printed pages of this thesis hold far more than the culmination of years of study. They
represent an incredible journey and reflect a relationship with many generous and inspiring
people. Indeed, this research has been kept on track and completed with the support and
encouragement of numerous people. Now, as I complete the final pages, I wish to thank some
very special individuals who made it all possible and provided an unforgettable experience.
It is with immense gratitude that I acknowledge and recognise the support, guidance and trust
of Associate Professor Fiona Kumari Campbell. If not for your determined insistence and
confidence in my authentic self, this thesis and the world of academic endeavour would have
remained a distant and unrealised dream … thank you!
It gives me pleasure to acknowledge Dr Daniel Hourigan for accepting the role of associate
supervisor. Our constructive philosophical discussions provided not only significant
‘technical’ clarification and direction but also the opportunity to embrace the essence of the
individual spirit. Further, I am grateful to the Dean of Griffith Law School, Professor William
MacNeil, for ongoing scholastic support and colleagues within the Law School for their
assistance and friendship, particularly Merran Lawler for guidance in matters of law and
Dr Karen Crawley for editorial commentaries. Many thanks to Dr Leanne Dowse (UNSW), the
project’s initial independent assessor, for providing constructive advice and recommendations;
Professor Lesley Chenoweth for facilitating my entrance into the world of research and Gail
Pritchard for ‘teaching’ me to trust my own judgement and for taking on the daunting task of
editing.
Finally, words cannot express my appreciation to family and friends who have endured this
journey with me through moments of despair and joy, to offer comfort, patience and steadfast
belief in the dream.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................ i
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. ix
LIST OF PANELS .................................................................................................................... ix
STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP .................................................................... x
GLOSSARY .............................................................................................................................. xi
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1
SECTION ONE ....................................................................................................................... 22
Chapter 1
Theoretical Frameworks, Epistemological and Methodological Assumptions .................. 24
1.1 Foundations: Ontological and epistemological ............................................................... 29
1.1.1 Rationale for critical ontology .................................................................................. 30
1.1.2 Critical analysis of the epistemological position of the research ............................. 33
1.2 Theoretical frameworks ................................................................................................... 33
1.2.1 Martin Heidegger ..................................................................................................... 33
1.2.2 Judith Butler ............................................................................................................. 45
1.3 Critical definitions ........................................................................................................... 56
1.3.1 The definition and interpretation of power ............................................................... 56
1.3.2 Resistance ................................................................................................................. 64
1.4 Methods ........................................................................................................................... 67
1.4.1 Intertextual discussion .............................................................................................. 70
1.4.2 Symptomatic dimensions.......................................................................................... 73
1.4.3 Legal judgments ....................................................................................................... 74
1.5 Knowledge standpoint and ethics of researcher .............................................................. 86
INTERLUDE ........................................................................................................................... 92
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Chapter 2
Tomes and Canons of Martin Heidegger and Judith Butler ...............................................94
2.1 Martin Heidegger .............................................................................................................97
2.2 Judith Butler ...................................................................................................................115
Chapter 3
The ‘Truth’ of Dasein’s Identity ...........................................................................................133
3.1 The ‘Fundamental’ Structures of Dasein .......................................................................138
3.2.1 The ‘truth’ of conversation .....................................................................................141
3.2.2 The ‘truth’ concerning averageness in society ........................................................149
3.2.3 The ‘truth’ concerning the publicness of injustice ..................................................154
3.3 The temporality of ‘Being’ .............................................................................................160
3.3.1 The ‘Truth’ of Dasein’s Present..............................................................................167
3.3.2 The ‘Truth’ of Dasein’s Destiny .............................................................................169
Chapter 4
The Performativity of Disability ............................................................................................178
4.1 Performativity and disabled ‘identity’ ...........................................................................182
4.2 The abject body of the disabled ‘identity’ .....................................................................189
4.3 Agency, discourse, power and the disabled ‘identity’ ...................................................195
4.4 Embodiment, ‘identity’ and the disabled subject ...........................................................200
INTERLUDE ..........................................................................................................................207
SECTION TWO .....................................................................................................................209
Chapter 5
Language is the House of [Resistance] ..................................................................................211
5.1 The experience of Language ..........................................................................................216
5.1.1 Dis/abled experience with Language ......................................................................218
5.1.2 The social word (Das Wort) of disability ................................................................225
5.2 Theoretical and philosophical progression and relevancy .............................................238
5.2.1 Contemporariness ...................................................................................................242
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5.2.2 Ereignis … ‘events and happenings’ ...................................................................... 247
5.2.3 The Language of ‘Belonging’ ................................................................................ 250
5.2.4 The Language of Ereignis ...................................................................................... 253
5.2.5 Language or saying ................................................................................................ 256
5.2.6 The Embodied Reality of Language....................................................................... 261
Chapter 6
Language of Vulnerability and Responsibility: An ‘Ableist’ Vocabulary ......................... 267
6.1 The violent power of normativity .................................................................................. 270
6.1.1 Disturbing normative spaces .................................................................................. 273
6.1.2 Subversion … a possible alternative politics .......................................................... 280
6.2 Vulnerability .................................................................................................................. 287
6.3 A ‘provisionality’: Living otherwise ............................................................................. 292
6.3.1 Provocation or violence? ........................................................................................ 298
6.3.2 Non-violence ........................................................................................................... 302
INTERLUDE 3 ...................................................................................................................... 308
SECTION THREE ................................................................................................................ 310
Chapter 7
Dasein’s Precarious Performativity in Law .......................................................................... 312
7.1 The precarious nature of ‘freedom’: Paradox of liberalism .......................................... 317
7.1.1 Precarious state of ‘rights’ ...................................................................................... 318
7.1.2 Precarious state of ‘justice’ .................................................................................... 320
7.1.3 Precarious state of ‘equality’ .................................................................................. 322
7.2 An alternative position on freedom ............................................................................... 329
7.2.1 Heidegger’s Freedom defined ................................................................................ 330
7.2.2 The phenomenological possibilities ....................................................................... 336
7.3 The precarious state of dis/abled freedom … two judicial decisions ............................ 340
7.3.1 Performativities of ‘difference’ .............................................................................. 340
7.4 Jurisdictional issues as geodisability knowledge .......................................................... 351
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