Anarchism and the Sabbatean Heresy

James Rolla  Martel

doi:10.53981/destrocos.v7i1.63269

Authors

James Rolla Martel San Francisco State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53981/destrocos.v7i1.63269

Keywords:

anarchism, archism, false Messiah, Walter Benjamin, Gershom Scholem

Abstract

In this paper, I look at the events surrounding the false messiah Sabbatai Sevi. I argue that this phenomenon, along with other instances of false messianism, are a critical resource for Judaism, an anarchist subcurrent that serves to undermine the certainties that otherwise lead to archism, a system of domination and oppression based on assumptions that are not grounded in truth. I contrast the readings of Sabbateanism by Gershom Scholem, a scholar who saw Sevi as a force of negation that ultimately led to concrete practices with Walter Benjamin’s more radical sense of negation that permanently disallows becoming something beyond doubt. Whereas Scholem’s reading, I argue, perpetuates archism, Benjamin’s reading is anarchist.

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Author Biography

James Rolla Martel, San Francisco State University

James Martel teaches political theory in the department of political science at San Francisco State University. His most recent publication is Anarchist Prophets: Disappointing Vision and the Power of Collective Sight (Duke 2022). He has a new book under contract also with Duke entitled Continuous Assembly: The Power and Promise of Non-Archism.

References

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