Usurping Suicide : The Political Resonances of Individual Deaths

Can an individual act of suicide be socially significant, or does it present too many imponderable features? This book examines suicide like no other. Unconcerned with the individual dispositions that lead a person to commit such an act, Usurping Suicide focuses on the reception suicides have produced - their political, social and cultural implications. How does a particular act of suicide enable a collective significance to be attached to it? And what contextual circumstances predispose a politicised public response? From Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation during regime change in Tunisia to Dimitris Christoulas's public shooting at a time of increased political upheaval in Greece, and beyond - this remarkable work examines how the individuality of the act of suicide poses a disturbing symbolic conundrum for the dominant liberal order. Book jacket Praise for Usurping Suicide ‘Sometimes the depth of an economic crisis can only be fathomed when suicide, that most personal of acts, accrues political meaning and consequence. The authors bring committed insight to political suicides in our time, from Tunisia to Syntagma Square.’ Terrence McDonough, co-author of Contemporary Capitalism and its Crises ‘An original study of those moments when the act of ending one’s own life can acquire public and political significance. The authors bring a fresh approach to an old problem: why individuals choose to end their lives and what meaning the act can have for those left behind.’ Aamir R. Mufti, author of Forget English! Orientalisms and World Literatures Introduction1. On Suicide Archives And Political Resonances -- Suman Gupta2. The Irresistible Rise And Fall Of Posthumous Bouazizi -- Suman Gupta3. Austerity Annuls The Individual: Dimitris Christoulas And The Greek Financial Crisis -- Theodoros A. Spyros And Mike Hajimichael4. Self-immolations In Bulgaria: A Quietly Accumulating Record -- Milena Katsarska5. Self-effacing Suicides And Troubled Talk -- Suman Gupta. Suman Gupta, Milena Katsarska, Theodoros A. Spyros And Mike Hajimichael. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. A provocative and highly original exploration of suicides that have gained wider political resonance, and the challenge this poses to the liberal order.