Shooting At The Clocks: A Revolutionary Promise From Benjamin And Foucault

Abstract

Traditional historiography has settled its bases upon a substantive history, where the categories to which the actors belong are perceived as immova- ble. Philosophers such as Walter Benjamin criticize these positions for being the preferred way of legitimizing power, by those who have conquered history. As a result of this critical position, we’ll try to develop a practical tool for the dissolution of the evidence of knowledge that has consolidated these groups in those substantial categories: often understood as the good guys of history, leaving aside the oppressed condition of those who were defeated. In order to do that, we’ll use a handful of concepts proposed by the philosopher Michel Foucault and his understanding of the functioning of the subject, knowledge and power.