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https://doi.org/10.25198/2077-7175-2024-1-87
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THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY AND ONTOLOGY OF AUTONOMOUS ZONES

D. B. Polyakov
Zabaikal Railway Transport Institute, a branch of Irkutsk State Transport University, Chita, Russia
e-mail: poldmit89@mail.ru

Abstract. The article reveals the content of the Temporary Autonomous Zones’ conception (TAZ), proposed by the American anarchist thinker and poet Hakim Bey (real name – Peter Lamborn Wilson, 1945–2022) and rather poorly represented in Russian-language scientific publications. The political and intellectual contexts within which this concept was formed and formulated, as well as its ontological roots, theorized by Hakim Bey himself, are highlighted. A brief overview of the main provisions of this concept, a critical reaction to it from other anarchist authors (M. Bookchin), as well as counterarguments by post-anarchist theorists R. F. Day and S. Newman are presented. The relevance of this work is due to the fact that the trends of instability and non-linearity, fixed both in the modern post-non-classical world picture (reflected in philosophy) and in current global politics, though not identical, but in a certain way correlate with anarchist approaches to understanding reality in general and political reality in particular. The purpose of this articleis attempt to incorporate the concepts of ontological anarchy and autonomous zones, developed by Bey in the 80s of the 20th century, into the context of the latest theoretical approaches in ontology, namely those presented by Q. Meillassoux’s speculative materialism, L. R. Brynt’s object-oriented ontology (onticology) and B. Latour’s actor-network theory. This also determines the scientific novelty of this work, achieved by methods of historical and philosophical description and comparative analysis and also thanks to the involvement of a number of rare English-language sources devoted to the scientific consideration of the work of Hakim Bey. The results of the work include the detection of theoretical approaches to the development and articulation of an anarchist political ontology, which may be associated with further areas of scientific research. In addition, as a conclusion, those nuances of the concept of autonomous zones that seem to be the most relevant today are outlined.

Key words: autonomous zones, TAZ, ontological anarchism, postanarchism, contingency.

Cite as: Polyakov, D. B. (2024) [The political philosophy and ontology of autonomous zones]. Intellekt. Innovacii. Investicii [Intellect. Innovations. Investments]. Vol. 1, pp. 87–94. – https://doi.org/10.25198/2077-7175-2024-1-87.


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