Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon
Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon
Rumbling on performativity_Frits Simon
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Reading an account of heated discussi<strong>on</strong>s (O'Flynn, 2005), I cannot help reliving my<br />
experiences. I have developed an allergy for this kind of situati<strong>on</strong>s, which at its turn<br />
still stimulates my ability to sort out subjects in trying to stay focussed. I also realize<br />
that by acting this way I force other people to act rati<strong>on</strong>ally according to my<br />
standards. In younger years I did this because of my competence and a certain authority<br />
I gained. Later <strong>on</strong> also because of the power related to my positi<strong>on</strong> as a managing<br />
director.<br />
Encapsulated in books and reflecti<strong>on</strong><br />
As a lecturer I read a lot, sometimes I published an article or a book. Apart from lecturing<br />
I was for example involved in the development of courseware for philosophy, in<br />
the introducti<strong>on</strong> of the accreditati<strong>on</strong> system in the UAS and in several projects for the<br />
improvement of our courses. Al<strong>on</strong>gside my lectures I started to work <strong>on</strong> a PhD which<br />
was initiated through a curiosity for the c<strong>on</strong>ceptual similarities between cognitive<br />
sciences and the French post-structuralism. I sensed that cognitivism could offer a<br />
possibility of c<strong>on</strong>necting the historical and power analysis of Foucault (1925 – 1984)<br />
with the tangible opini<strong>on</strong>s of people. I never finished this PhD-project but I got trained<br />
in taking a historical and genetic positi<strong>on</strong> towards c<strong>on</strong>cepts of science and philosophy.<br />
Owing to reading the history of ideas in archaeology, evoluti<strong>on</strong> theory, psychology and<br />
biology and the history of technology I approach theories in the c<strong>on</strong>text of broad<br />
societal and scientific developments unwilling to isolate them as part of n<strong>on</strong>-historical<br />
scientific or philosophical discourses. The life of scientists and the c<strong>on</strong>cepts of their<br />
science, in fact the life of every human being, are to be read as c<strong>on</strong>vergences of societal<br />
developments.<br />
Because of my interpretati<strong>on</strong> of Foucault (1975) emancipati<strong>on</strong> had gained a radical but<br />
impossible noti<strong>on</strong> of absolute freedom. Meddlesome interference of authorities,<br />
instituti<strong>on</strong>s or big companies was not acceptable. Privacy became can<strong>on</strong>ized. A good<br />
illustrati<strong>on</strong> is the battle I fought with the staff members of the infant care of my<br />
daughter Sanne (born 1983). As parents we did not want that her dossier was handed<br />
over to the healthcare in the primary school, worried that early labels about her<br />
c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> would influence evaluati<strong>on</strong>s later <strong>on</strong> in her life. Not used as the medical staff<br />
was to independent clients and c<strong>on</strong>vinced of their superior intenti<strong>on</strong>s, it took some<br />
discussi<strong>on</strong>s, but the dossier was emptied. One Big Brother down!<br />
The first book I wrote is a reflecti<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> the irrati<strong>on</strong>ality of human beings. The book<br />
was about the c<strong>on</strong>fr<strong>on</strong>tati<strong>on</strong>s between social workers and clients, by dec<strong>on</strong>structing<br />
their discourses in a historical setting as an interacti<strong>on</strong> in which all parties practice<br />
micro-power based <strong>on</strong> their different default assumpti<strong>on</strong>s (Sim<strong>on</strong>, 1996). In the revised<br />
editi<strong>on</strong> the str<strong>on</strong>g power dimensi<strong>on</strong>s were replaced by a quasi-neutral cognitive way<br />
of explaining interacti<strong>on</strong>s (Sim<strong>on</strong>, 2000). In the books I am focused <strong>on</strong> the pragmatic<br />
effects of language, as language is ingrained in history and regulates the way people<br />
interpret everyday life. Interacti<strong>on</strong> is a matter of historical variati<strong>on</strong> and socializati<strong>on</strong><br />
instead of rati<strong>on</strong>al decisi<strong>on</strong> making. Actually I did what was meant in my PhD-project<br />
3. My taken for granted assumpti<strong>on</strong>s as a researcher | 71