Mourning the Un-Mournable? Political Theology Between Refugees and Religion
Schmiedel, Ulrich LU
(2017)
In Political Theology
18(7).
p.612-627
- Abstract
- Since the arrival, or the attempted arrival, of millions of refugees in Europe, the performances of the Center for Political Beauty – a Berlin-based collective of artists and activists – have had a huge impact on public and political debates about Germany's migration policies. In this paper, I analyze the performance “The Dead Are Coming” in which the artists buried refugees who drowned in their attempt to enter the European Union. Drawing on Judith Butler's political philosophy of performativity, I assess “The Dead Are Coming” as a “doing” rather than a “describing” of dignity. I argue that the integration of God into the practices of mourning enables both the activists and the audience to resist the differential distribution of dignity... (More)
- Since the arrival, or the attempted arrival, of millions of refugees in Europe, the performances of the Center for Political Beauty – a Berlin-based collective of artists and activists – have had a huge impact on public and political debates about Germany's migration policies. In this paper, I analyze the performance “The Dead Are Coming” in which the artists buried refugees who drowned in their attempt to enter the European Union. Drawing on Judith Butler's political philosophy of performativity, I assess “The Dead Are Coming” as a “doing” rather than a “describing” of dignity. I argue that the integration of God into the practices of mourning enables both the activists and the audience to resist the differential distribution of dignity in Europe's migration policy. Ultimately, I advocate a re-thinking of political theology in which art learns from theology and theology learns from art in order to promote dignity under de-dignifying conditions. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/6e157a89-6461-47a1-96ae-e366efb1a356
- author
- Schmiedel, Ulrich
LU
- publishing date
- 2017
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Political Theology
- volume
- 18
- issue
- 7
- pages
- 612 - 627
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85013633568
- ISSN
- 1462-317X
- DOI
- 10.1080/1462317X.2017.1291399
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 6e157a89-6461-47a1-96ae-e366efb1a356
- date added to LUP
- 2024-02-24 17:37:58
- date last changed
- 2025-05-24 08:26:29
@article{6e157a89-6461-47a1-96ae-e366efb1a356,
abstract = {{Since the arrival, or the attempted arrival, of millions of refugees in Europe, the performances of the Center for Political Beauty – a Berlin-based collective of artists and activists – have had a huge impact on public and political debates about Germany's migration policies. In this paper, I analyze the performance “The Dead Are Coming” in which the artists buried refugees who drowned in their attempt to enter the European Union. Drawing on Judith Butler's political philosophy of performativity, I assess “The Dead Are Coming” as a “doing” rather than a “describing” of dignity. I argue that the integration of God into the practices of mourning enables both the activists and the audience to resist the differential distribution of dignity in Europe's migration policy. Ultimately, I advocate a re-thinking of political theology in which art learns from theology and theology learns from art in order to promote dignity under de-dignifying conditions.}},
author = {{Schmiedel, Ulrich}},
issn = {{1462-317X}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{7}},
pages = {{612--627}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Political Theology}},
title = {{Mourning the Un-Mournable? Political Theology Between Refugees and Religion}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1462317X.2017.1291399}},
doi = {{10.1080/1462317X.2017.1291399}},
volume = {{18}},
year = {{2017}},
}