Breaking Intersubjectivity: A Critical Theory of Counter-Revolutionary Trauma in Egypt

The concept of trauma is problematic due to its solipsist Philosophy of the Subject, which prioritizes the traumatic 'event' over traumatic social and political structures. This book argues that trauma entails the violent imposition of traumatic status subordination, which collapses the symbolic realm of the lifeworld and destroys the potential of creative collective becoming. Human-induced trauma is a political tool that can be used to inflict multileveled status subordination, as seen in the Egyptian counter-revolution. The Egyptian military used violent means, procedural colonization, and neoliberal economic rationalism to destroy the possibility of revolutionary and transformative becoming.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 10 April 2024
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Trauma is commonly understood as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but this book challenges this concept by arguing that it is rooted in a solipsist Philosophy of the Subject. Within this perspective, it is impossible to account for the causality of traumas and the traumatic 'event is prioritized over traumatic social and political structures. This depoliticization of trauma as an (individual) internal cognitive object leads to a broken inter subjectivity. The book presents a critique of the notion of PTSD and argues that trauma entails the violent imposition of traumatic status subordination. In traumatic status subordination, intersubjective parity (the counterfactual presupposition of being treated as an equal human being) is so violently betrayed that the symbolic realm of the lifeworld collapses. This collapse destroys the potential of creative collective becoming and leads to an atomized state of speechless disorientation. Human-induced trauma should therefore be understood as a political tool par excellence. The Egyptian counter-revolutionary actors, consisting of the Egyptian military and its temporary subsidiary the Muslim Brotherhood, used traumatic status subordination as a tool to put the revolutionary genie back into the bottle. The military sought to destroy the object of revolutionary power and restore the status quo ante. The book highlights the importance of understanding trauma as a political tool and its impact on society.

Weight: 549g
Dimension: 228 x 150 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781538173008