Papers by andrea cassatella
Beyond the Secular Jacques Derrida and the Theological-Political Complex
Through an in-depth, critical analysis of Jacques Derrida's later writings, Beyond the Secular ex... more Through an in-depth, critical analysis of Jacques Derrida's later writings, Beyond the Secular examines the contemporary nexus between religion and politics. Reconnecting these writings to his early works, Andrea Cassatella explores distinctive topics that are thematically linked by the theological-political problematic and theoretically informed by Derrida's relational approach to language, time, religion and politics. The result is a critical investigation into under-examined assumptions of modern secular discourse that questions its binary logics and illuminates such discourse's exclusionary character by tracing its roots in racialized understandings about language, epistemology, politics and religion that travel worldwide through global processes of assimilatory translation. By exposing the discriminatory hierarchies that the Western-Christian, sexualized, and racialized presuppositions of secular discourse keep producing and maintaining, Cassatella ultimately sheds light on the deep entanglements of secularism with the legacy of race and colonialism.
Il multiculturalismo nella filosofia politica : il cosmopolitismo di Jeremy Waldron
The “messianic” is a central figure of thought in the work of Jacques Derrida. Since its introduc... more The “messianic” is a central figure of thought in the work of Jacques Derrida. Since its introduction and development in the early 1990s, the “messianic” arguably plays a key role in his later writings. Focusing primarily on Specters of Marx (henceforth Specters) and more limitedly on “Force of Law” and Rogues, this essay aims to clarify the nature of the “messianic” and to underscore its philosophical significance in terms of political philosophy. In particular, it seeks to emphasize the historical specificity of messianic thinking and its resistance to any form of substantive normativity, both of which, as we shall see, are often overlooked aspects in recent Derrida scholarship. I want to suggest that Derrida’s “messianic” can be conceived as a “normativity without telos”, a non-teleological and yet historical type of political philosophy that enables practices of thinking and action that have profound significance for justice. On the one hand, the “messianic” fosters “redemptive”...
This dissertation investigates the relationship between the theological and the political in the ... more This dissertation investigates the relationship between the theological and the political in the contemporary predicament by exploring the undervalued political thought of Jacques Derrida. It examines the complex interaction between religion and politics, especially as it relates to political authority and community by also paying attention to the conceptions of language and time at work in the political understandings of and normative responses to cultural and religious diversity. Through a close reading of Derrida’s work on language, time, religion and politics, I argue that his political thought offers significant resources to re-think the theologico-political relationship in more complex and critical ways, especially beyond the radical separation between religion and politics so common in the classical modern paradigm. The project’s central aim is two-fold: first, to offer a theoretical response to the empirical significance of religions in the public sphere by seeking to furthe...
Contemporary Political Theory, 2018
This article investigates the politics of translation at work in contemporary theories of secular... more This article investigates the politics of translation at work in contemporary theories of secularism. It turns to the thought of Jacques Derrida in order to challenge liberal and more critical perspectives. Without a complex analysis of translation and its ethico-political effects, the revisitation of secularism remains deficient, leaving the liberal politics of translation exclusionary and that of their critics ineffective. Pointing to the resources Derrida offers for a deeper understanding of the nature, political stakes, and implications of translation, this article illuminates an understudied and yet crucial dimension of the relationship between religion and politics, and more generally of public life.
Ratio Juris, 2006
The article concentrates on Kymlicka's major area of research, i.e., the issue of justice for min... more The article concentrates on Kymlicka's major area of research, i.e., the issue of justice for minority cultures. It deals with his perspective on cultural recognition in a multicultural society, which is grounded on his argument for culture and autonomy. Specifically, it covers issues such as cultural and moral pluralism, the justification for policies of cultural recognition, and the relation between cultural identity and membership. The aim of the article is to emphasise what the dangerous implications could be, in a multicultural society, were policies of cultural recognition to be predominantly or solely founded on liberal values.
Contemporary Political Theory (2018)
This article investigates the understudied politics of translation at work in contemporary theori... more This article investigates the understudied politics of translation at work in contemporary theories of secularism and turns to the thought of Jacques Derrida in order to challenge both critical and apologetic versions of liberal perspectives. It argues that without a complex analysis of translation and its ethico-political effects the negotiation of difference remains ineffective and the liberal politics of translation exclusionary. The article contributes to contemporary debates on religion and politics by illuminating the fact that ignoring the politics of translation at work in dominant conceptions of secularism contributes to maintaining frameworks that have wide-ranging exclusionary effects.In response to this, it offers a thorough challenge to the understandings connected to such implications.
The article concentrates on Kymlicka’s major area of research, i.e., the issue of justice for min... more The article concentrates on Kymlicka’s major area of research, i.e., the issue of justice for minority cultures. It deals with his perspective on cultural recognition in a multicultural society, which is grounded on his argument for culture and autonomy.
Specifically, it covers issues such as cultural and moral pluralism, the justification for policies of cultural recognition, and the relation between cultural identity and membership. The aim of the article is to emphasize what the dangerous implications could be, in a multicultural society, were policies of cultural recognition to be predominantly or solely founded on liberal values.
Specifically, it covers issues such as cultural and moral pluralism, the justification for policies of cultural recognition, and the relation between cultural identity and membership. The aim of the article is to emphasize what the dangerous implications could be, in a multicultural society, were policies of cultural recognition to be predominantly or solely founded on liberal values.
Philosophy & Social Criticism, 2016
The essay articulates Jacques Derrida’s view of the secular as the field of the socio-political... more The essay articulates Jacques Derrida’s view of the secular as the field of the socio-political. It focuses on his argument as to why religion and politics cannot be strictly separated as in the classical modern paradigm. By engaging Derrida’s later writings, this article shows that the secular domain cannot be purified of all faith and is best thought of as theologico-political, where ‘theologico-political’ indicates the interrelatedness and distinction between the theological and the political. The article’s central claim is that that by opening up to some form of the theological that is not reducible traditional conceptions, and to a faith that is not necessarily religious, Derrida provides significant resources for understanding the secular today in more complex and critical ways than usual approaches offer.
The Encyclopedia of Political Thought, (Eds.) Michael T. Gibbons et al. Wiley-Blackwell, Oct 2, 2014
'Normativity Without Telos': The Messianic in the Thought of Jacques Derrida
Bamidbar: Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy,Vol. 4 Issue 2 (2012): 24-43