Tiqqun was a French-Italian post-Marxist philosophical journal or zine, produced in two issues in February 1999 and October 2001. Topics treated in the journal's articles include anti-capitalism, anti-statism, Situationism, feminism, and the history of late 20th century revolutionary movements, especially May 1968 in France, the Italian Years of Lead, and the anti-globalization protests of the late 1990s and early 2000s. The journal's articles were written anonymously; as a result, the word "Tiqqun" is also used to name the articles' collective of authors, and other texts attributed to them.
The journal came to wider attention following the Tarnac Nine arrests of 2008, a police operation which detained nine people on suspicion of having conspired on recent sabotage of French electrical train lines. The arrested were accused of having written The Coming Insurrection, a political tract credited to The Invisible Committee, a distinct anonymous group named in the journal. Julien Coupat, one of the arrested, was a contributor to the first issue of Tiqqun.
The journal's articles are polemics against modern capitalist society, which the authors hold in contempt. Individual articles present diagnoses of specific aspects of modern society, drawing on ideas from continental philosophy, anthropology, and history. Guy Debord's concept of the Spectacle is used to explain how communication media and socialization processes support existing capitalist society, and Michel Foucault's concept of biopower is used to explain how states and businesses manage populations via their physical needs. The journal's articles introduce terminology for their topics, freely used throughout the other articles. A "Bloom" refers to an archetypal, alienated modern person or subject, named after the character Leopold Bloom from the James Joyce novel Ulysses. A "Young-Girl" refers to a person who participates in modern society and thereby reinforces it, exhibiting traits commonly associated with femininity. Although a "Bloom" frequently stands for a man and a "Young-Girl" frequently stands for a woman, the authors stress that the concepts are not gendered. The word Tiqqun is an alternate spelling of Tikkun olam, a Jewish theological concept which refers to repair or healing of the world. In the authors' context, Tiqqun refers to improvement of the human condition through the subversion of modern capitalist society.
Due to their philosophical influences, political content and historical context, the Tiqqun articles have received some attention in humanities scholarship and anarchist reading circles. Selected articles have been republished in several languages.
Contents and authorship The first issue of Tiqqun was published in February 1999 with the title (Tiqqun, Conscious Organ of the Imaginary Party: Exercises in Critical Metaphysics). The second issue was published in October 2001 with the title (Tiqqun, Organ of Liaison within the Imaginary Party: Zone of Offensive Opacity). For simplicity the two issues are commonly referred to as Tiqqun 1 and Tiqqun 2, respectively.
Eleven articles were published in Tiqqun 1, and ten major articles were published in Tiqqun 2. Additionally the first issue contained a one-page spread, and the second issue contained nine smaller pieces interspersed between each of its ten main articles, two-page spreads with black borders. In all 31 pieces were published in the journal, listed below in the order they originally appeared.
Due to their anonymity, Tiqqun's articles are not credited to individual authors; rather, they are simply attributed to the journal's namesake. However the first issue's back cover contained a colophon which listed the issue's editorial board as Julien Boudart, Fulvia Carnevale, Julien Coupat, Junius Frey, Joël Gayraud, Stephan Hottner and Rémy Ricordeau.
The actor and philosopher Mehdi Belhaj Kacem briefly collaborated with the Tiqqun collective toward the end of its existence. In an interview, he noted that the group disbanded shortly after the September 11 attacks.
+Original French TitleEnglish TranslationEh bien, la guerre!Of course you know, this means war!Qu'est-ce que la Métaphysique Critique?What is Critical Metaphysics?Théorie du BloomTheory of BloomPhénoménologie de la vie quotidiennePhenomenology of Everyday LifeThèses sur le Parti ImaginaireTheses on the Imaginary PartyLe silence et son au-delàSilence and BeyondDe l'économie considérée comme magie noireOn the Economy Considered as Black MagicPremiers matériaux pour une théorie de la Jeune-FillePreliminary Materials For a Theory of the Young-GirlLa théologie en 1999Theology in 1999Hommes-machines, mode d'emploiMachine-Men: User's GuideLes métaphysiciens-critiques sous le «mouvement des chômeurs»The Critical Metaphysicians beneath the "Unemployed Persons' movement"Quelques actions d'éclat du Parti ImaginaireA Few Scandalous Actions of the Imaginary Party
+Original French TitleEnglish TranslationIntroduction à la guerre civileIntroduction to Civil WarL'hypothèse cybernétiqueThe Cybernetic HypothesisThèses sur la communauté terribleTheses on the Terrible CommunityLe problème de la têteThe Problem of the Head«Une métaphysique critique pourrait naître comme science des dispositifs...»"A critical metaphysics could emerge as a science of apparatuses..."Rapport à la S.A.S.C. concernant un dispositif impérialReport to the S.A.C.S. Concerning an Imperial ApparatusLe petit jeu de l'homme d'Ancien RégimeThe Little Game of the Man of the Old RegimeÉchographie d'une puissanceSonogram of a PotentialCeci n'est pas un programmeThis Is Not a ProgramComment faire?How Is It to Be Done?
+Original French TitleEnglish TranslationDernier avertissement au parti imaginaireFinal Warning to the Imaginary PartyLes vainqueurs avaient vaincu sans peineThe Conquerors had Conquered Without Trouble«Tout mouvement excède...»Untitled Notes on Citizenship PapersCeux qui ne veulent pas du progrès, le progrès ne veut pas d'euxProgress doesn't want Those that don't want ProgressHalte à la domestiCAFion!Stop DomestiCAFion!Notes sur le localNotes on the LocalOn a toujours l'âge de déserterYou're never too old to ditch outBonjour!Hello!Ma noi ci saremoBut we'll be here
Themes
Tiqqun's articles pathologize modern capitalist society, introducing several terms used to describe social phenomena. The authors use the terms together to present an anti-capitalist, anti-statist worldview. Because of their contempt for modern society, the authors advocate insurrectionary anarchism, crime, and other methods intended to subvert it. The authors also indicate that people opposed to modern capitalist society may form meaningful community with each other based on their shared rejection of it.
According to the authors, the coordination of states and private businesses gives rise to modern capitalist society (Empire), which entails "commodity domination" of social interactions, supplanting authentic human community. This leads to several pathological sociological types: socially alienated people (Blooms), people who fully participate in society and thereby become commodities themselves (Young-Girls), people who criticize society without attempting to change it (Men of the Old Regime), and subcultures which seek to preserve themselves at the expense of their members' inability to be honest with each other (Terrible Communities). Historically, modern Western society transitioned from a period of liberal governance (the liberal hypothesis) to a period stressing social control using technology (the cybernetic hypothesis). Modern society uses two techniques to maintain its power and to reproduce itself: biopower is used to manage the physical needs of the population, while the Spectacle is an established form of discourse which reproduces modern society through its socialization in individuals.
Against this, the authors posit "critical metaphysics", an attitude which rejects modern society. Persons who reject modern society may meet in "planes of consistency", circumstances which allow like-minded people to encounter each other. Persons rejecting modern society form the Imaginary Party, an unorganized group who may coalesce around specific events of civil unrest. An example is the Black bloc, a practice—employed during anti-globalization protests and riots—of dressing in black and wearing face coverings. The authors describe "zones of offensive opacity" as places where people may meet to subvert modern society. The process through which such people meet and interact is described as Tiqqun.
The tone of the articles is frequently acerbic and sarcastic. The philosophers Thucydides, Thomas Hobbes and Martin Heidegger are described respectively as "that moron", "that piece of shit" and "swine", due to the authors' disagreements with their views. The Italian sociologist Antonio Negri is also frequently the subject of harsh criticism, due to his involvement in activism which the authors feel is too conciliatory to existing capitalist society. The articles are illustrated with reproductions of artwork and photography of riots and demonstrations.
Synopsis
Tiqqun 1
The journal's first issue included a frontispiece depicting a traditional Italian mask set against the Latin inscription SUA CUIQUE PERSONA (To each their own mask); masks are used frequently as metaphorical devices throughout the issue. The frontispiece is a detail of Portrait Cover with Grotesques [it], an Italian Renaissance painting of uncertain origin, commonly attributed to Ridolfo Ghirlandaio. The painting functioned as a practical art object, intended as a cover for a portrait painting. Although its companion is also uncertain, Portrait Cover has become associated with the portrait Veiled Woman [it], also attributed to Ghirlandaio. The two artworks are exhibited together at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Of course you know, this means war! is a brief opening piece which sets out the authors' disgust with modern society, which they liken to the Situationist notion of the Spectacle, and also to the Kabbalistic notion of qlippoth (shells, husks), the latter being evil forces in Jewish mysticism. Against the prevailing social order, the authors propose Tiqqun, referring both to the Jewish concept of healing, and also to the journal itself. The piece is dated Venice, January 15, 1999. What is Critical Metaphysics? gives a description of its titular subject, which is opposed to "commodity domination", or commodity metaphysics. The article's title is a play on What is Metaphysics?, a lecture given by Heidegger in 1929. According to the authors, critical metaphysics is an irrepressable, anti-capitalist way of perceiving reality, which consumer culture, modernity and analytic philosophy have failed to eliminate. The authors stress that the concept is not academic, but practical: "Critical Metaphysics is in everyone's guts." Persons who engage in critical metaphysics are described as critical metaphysicians. In one passage, people who join to "politicize metaphysics" represent the emergence of "the coming insurrection of the Mind"; The Coming Insurrection was the title later given to the first work by The Invisible Committee. Between articles an image of a black square was reproduced, taken from a work by the occult philosopher Robert Fludd. For Fludd, the black square represented the Void which preceded the Creation. The authors reproduced the image to illustrate surrounding themes of nothingness and night.