Fantasy and Political Violence

Radical Sociality

“…The metaphorical 'surplus' of fantasy (the constitution/stabilization of subjectivity) and the feminization of the other, were also the findings of my own research in the context of political violence in the early 1970s in Latin America (Palacios, 2009). As one of the possible shortcomings of 'fantasy-only approaches' is the conflation between fantasy and the emergence of physical violence against the other, one of the main foci of study was to try to capture the very specificity of a violent fantasy.…”

“…Let me just briefly mention here that at least 'theoretically' there is space to think of forms of being with the other which are not overridden by paranoia and anxiety. But even within the 'phallic' framework of fantasy, I should say here that fantasy does not 'necessarily' lead to violence against others, but that as my research in the context of political violence in Latin America showed (Palacios, 2009), the emergence of violence requires significant linguistic displacements (characterized by antagonism and universality), and the mobilization of desire in the direction of hatred and eroticization of death. Furthermore, the experience of the void and the anxiety that accompanies it do not lead only to forms of political antagonism but also to melancholic encounters.…”

Rural unions and the struggle for land in Brazil

“…Influenced by the Pernambucan lawyer and socialist politician Francisco Julião, various peasant groups throughout the northeastern states began organizing themselves. These peasants were predominantly resident sugar cane plantation workers, subordinated by landlord prerogatives in exchange for limited land-use rights for animal husbandry and gardening (Montenegro 2004;Palacios 2009). In order to protect basic interests, such as schools for their children and the burial costs of elders, they organized themselves into mutual aid societies.…”

“…From colonial times to the late nineteenth century, sugarcane planters and sugar mill owners articulated their predominance of Brazil's northeastern region with a sizable subaltern population of small producers of food and providers of skilled labor. With the decline of African slavery, most of these peasants were forced to surrender their autonomy as the planters laid claim to their farms and their lives, recreating them as dependent resident workers who were only permitted to produce food for their own consumption (Palacios 2009). In nearly every corner of Brazil, peasants cleared forest and brush to create farmland, only to have it taken from them by the combined power of armed landlord henchmen and compliant government authorities.…”

“…First, the Portuguese word for peasant, camponês, can be found in colonial documents, including court proceedings in which they sought to defend their interests (Palacios 2009). In one of Martins' older studies of the Brazilian countryside (1981), he alleged that the word first appeared in the 1950s when some peasant leagues (Ligas Camponesas) became well known.…”