I recently read Sussan Buck-Morss’s Hegel, Haiti, and Universal History, which includes and expands on her well-known essay “Hegel and Haiti” from Critical Inquiry. I’m wondering if any of you have read it and, if so, what you thought of it.
To me, the notion that Hegel was thinking specifically about the Haitian Revolution when formulating the master-slave dialectic seemed plausible, particularly given the work Buck-Morss does in tracking down Hegel’s reading habits and interests. Yet I’m not sure she really does enough to demonstrate how the Haitian point of reference allows us to read Hegel differently, and I’m also not sure how much the second half of the book really adds to the original argument of the article.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 9:47 am
I’d echo those sentiments, only adding that I recently noticed that the journal Minerva (which plays a role in the argument that Hegel would have known about Haiti) has been archived online at http://www.ub.uni-bielefeld.de/diglib/aufkl/minerva/index.htm I haven’t had time to go through the relevant articles, but it might be interesting to do so.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 9:49 am
I thought the book was a pretty good read, (even though I think there was some guess work and speculation on linking Hegel with Haiti) but I did like her method on how she focused on what Hegel read and his correspondence. However, in presenting the evidence, she at least opened up the conversation in trying to find concrete historical acts as reference for a philosopher’s ideas. Whether this adds anything to anyone’s impression of Hegel’s master-slave dialectic is probably up to the reader. I’m sure those who are already upset with its format will perhaps say that if Haiti was the inspiration then Hegel should have known better for some of his “off-color” comments in his World History book…
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 9:56 pm
I can’t find it at the moment but I do remember reading Peter Hallward’s pretty devastating review of Buck-Morss’s work on Haiti claiming that it gets Hegel completely backwards.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 1:38 am
Thomas, I haven’t found it either but I did find a review of the SB-M book http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/index.php/nwig/article/viewFile/URN%3ANBN%3ANL%3AUI%3A10-1-100891/8476 [pdf] which briefly mentions a criticism by Hallward, rather a mild one, really. If there’s a published review by Hallward I’d be interested to read it. Also, there was some discussion on Stuart Elden’s blog about the SB-M book: http://progressivegeographies.com/2011/08/11/buck-morss-hegel-and-haiti/
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 9:36 am
Anthony mentioned the Hallward review to me, which I’d be interested to see as well. I fear, however, that it may be in the time-tested genre of book reviews that simply reassert the conventional wisdom, ignoring the fact that the book is providing concrete evidence against it — nothing personal against Hallward, though.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 10:29 pm
Much better than The Da Vinci Code. To be read alongside Paul Gilroy, Abdul JanMohamed, Takeuchi Yoshimi and Slavoj Zizek.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 10:33 pm
Oh, and Giorgio Agamben, and me.