Some Possible Topics for Short Paper #3

Remember you don’t have to follow or respond directly to one of these prompts, and even if you do you want to make sure you do the following:

1. Develop a thesis –hopefully one that is interesting (to you) and that engages critically with the material.
2. Use that thesis to explore the material that we have been reading.
3. Make an argument of some kind in defense of your thesis.

This third paper is potentially different, since there weren’t as many readings between it and the second paper. So, you can, of course, go back and draw forward texts from the previous readings. In any case, here are some potential prompts:

1. Can we define “pornography” as a form of violence? Does it count as a form of “cultural violence” a la Galtung? Does the existence of pornography as an industry suggest a deep structural anti-woman violence as Dworkin suggests?

2. Consider Hartsock’s analysis of violence as a masculine phenomenon, and her attempt to use the concept of “eros” to clear some space in which to rethink sexuality from a (at least potentially) non-violent perspective.

3. Can we overcome or end “oppression” or structural violence without recourse to a counter-violence? Do you think that Fanon and Malcolm X are arguing that counter-violence are in fact a necessary or essential part of ending oppression and injustice?

4. Is violence instrumental in Fanon? That is, would Fanon agree with Arendt that violence takes its value as an instrument—from the end that it can achieve? Or, is there a way in which Fanon may be articulating a non-instrumental concept of violence? Is there a connection between Benjamin’s notion of revolutionary violence and Fanon?

This isn’t a lot, and I apologize for the paucity here—but, there is avenues to take, and most of you have ended up pursuing your own ideas (which is good) anyway.