Choose Your Bearing: Edouard Glissant, Human Rights and Decolonial Ethics

Edouard Glissant's ethical theory combines Caribbean and Latin American ethics to create a new concept of responsibility that addresses inequities rooted in colonial projects. It re-envisions contemporary human rights practice based on the duties entailed in the decolonial (third-generation) rights claims made by the dispossessed and connects Glissant's claim of a right to opacity to ethical bearings. This book offers an urgent ethics for the present that combines risk, commitment, and care to form a new sense of decolonial responsibility.

Format: Hardback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 31 August 2023
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

One of the first readings of Edouard Glissant as an ethical theorist brings together Caribbean and Latin American ethics to provide a new concept of responsibility that addresses inequities rooted in colonial projects. Re-envisions contemporary human rights practice based on the duties entailed in the decolonial (third-generation) rights claims made by the dispossessed. Connects Glissant's claim of a right to opacity to ethical bearings, and by doing so presents a path for human rights and decolonial movements to come together.

What do we in the West owe those who grow our food, sew our clothes, and produce our electronics? And what have we always owed one another, but forgotten, avoided, or simply disregarded? Looking back on nearly a century of colonial war and genocide, in 1990, the poet and philosopher Douard Glissant appealed directly to his readers, calling them to re-orient their lives in service of the political struggles of their time: "You must choose your bearing." Informed by the prayer camps at Standing Rock, and presenting Glissant alongside Stuart Hall, Emmanuel Levinas, Simone Weil, Enrique Dussel, Gloria Anzalda, and W.E.B. Du Bois, this book offers an urgent ethics for the present - an ethics of risk, commitment, and care that together form a new sense of decolonial responsibility.

Douard Glissant, a poet and philosopher, is known for his influential work in ethics and politics. In his book "The Politics of Poetic Language," he explores the relationship between poetry and politics, arguing that poetry has the power to challenge dominant ideologies and promote social change. He also emphasizes the importance of the "right to opacity" in ethical and political discourse, which allows individuals and communities to resist the forces of oppression and exploitation.

In "The Ethics of Risk," Glissant further develops his ideas about responsibility and decoloniality. He argues that the West has a historical and ongoing responsibility to those who have been marginalized and oppressed by colonialism and imperialism. He also calls for a new sense of decolonial responsibility that recognizes the duties entailed in the decolonial (third-generation) rights claims made by the dispossessed.

One of the key concepts in Glissant's work is the idea of "decoloniality." He defines decoloniality as a process of decolonizing the mind and the world, which involves challenging the dominant narratives and structures that perpetuate colonialism and imperialism. This involves a commitment to the dismantling of oppressive systems and the promotion of justice and equality.

In "The Politics of Poetic Language," Glissant argues that poetry has the power to challenge dominant ideologies and promote social change. He uses the example of the Haitian Revolution to illustrate how poetry can be used to challenge the dominant narrative of colonialism and promote a sense of collective identity and resistance. He also emphasizes the importance of the "right to opacity" in ethical and political discourse, which allows individuals and communities to resist the forces of oppression and exploitation.

In "The Ethics of Risk," Glissant further develops his ideas about responsibility and decoloniality. He argues that the West has a historical and ongoing responsibility to those who have been marginalized and oppressed by colonialism and imperialism. He also calls for a new sense of decolonial responsibility that recognizes the duties entailed in the decolonial (third-generation) rights claims made by the dispossessed.

One of the key concepts in Glissant's work is the idea of "decoloniality." He defines decoloniality as a process of decolonizing the mind and the world, which involves challenging the dominant narratives and structures that perpetuate colonialism and imperialism. This involves a commitment to the dismantling of oppressive systems and the promotion of justice and equality.

In conclusion, Douard Glissant's work in ethics and politics offers a powerful critique of dominant ideologies and structures that perpetuate colonialism and imperialism. He emphasizes the importance of the "right to opacity" in ethical and political discourse, and calls for a new sense of decolonial responsibility that recognizes the duties entailed in the decolonial (third-generation) rights claims made by the dispossessed. His ideas about decoloniality and the politics of poetic language continue to inspire and challenge contemporary thinkers and activists working towards justice and equality.

Weight: 450g
Dimension: 222 x 142 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781399522434