A Bataillean Perspective on Migration and the Nation-State: The Politics of Active Matter as an Irreducible Force
Ahmet ErThis study explores the relationship between migration and classical materialist reductionist approaches to matter through Bataille’s concept of base materialism which focuses on the idea of formless matter. Bataille’s notion of formless matter challenges the conceptual idealism of classical materialism by emphasizing the baseness and lowness of matter, understood in its vulgarity. His provocative use of the term “base” serves as a declaration: the baseness of matter is not something to be overlooked or dismissed, but rather embraced as a fundamental characteristic of its irreducible nature. Bataille’s idea of formless matter opposes the conceptual idealism of classical materialism, highlighting the notions of baseness and lowness in the sense of vulgarism of the concept of matter. Bataille’s provocative usage of the word base is a declaration of the baseness of matter is not By doing so, it allows for a reevaluation of migration not as a social threat but as an integral part of homogeneous culture. This work draws on Bataille’s dualism of homogeneous and heterogeneous concepts to rethink the political philosophy concerning the nation-state and migration. The analogical relationship between passive, reductive materialist views and migration is examined, emphasizing that migration should be understood beyond a mere problem. Instead, it should be seen as a constitutive element of societies. Bataille’s critique of materialism suggests that matter, when viewed through its formless and base characteristics, can offer a new perspective on migration. This perspective allows for the recognition of migration as an essential response within homogeneous cultures rather than an external threat. The study argues that this approach provides a more profound understanding of migration movements, acknowledging their foundational role in shaping societies. By integrating Bataille’s theories, this research aims to challenge the reductionist views of classical materialism and propose a more nuanced interpretation of migration. It contends that migration, analyzed through the lens of base materialism, is vital for comprehending its complex impact on social structures.
Göç ve Ulus Devlet Üzerine Bataillecı Bir Bakış: İndirgenemez Bir Güç Olarak Aktif Maddenin Politikası
Ahmet ErBu çalışma, Bataille’ın temel materyalizm kavramı aracılığıyla göç olgusu ve klasik materyalizmin indirgemeci yaklaşımları arasındaki ilişkiyi araştırmaktadır. Bataille’ın formsuz madde anlayışı, klasik materyalizmin kavramsal idealizmine karşı çıkarak, madde teriminin bayağılık ve aşağılık anlamlarını ön plana çıkarır. Bu yaklaşım, göçün toplumsal bir tehdit olarak değil, homojen kültürün ayrılmaz bir parçası olarak yeniden değerlendirilmesine olanak tanır. Bu çalışma, Bataille’ın homojen ve heterojen kavram çiftleri üzerine inşa edilerek, ulus-devlet ve göç arasındaki ilişkiyi politik açıdan yeniden düşünmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışmanın amacı maddeyi pasif ve indirgemeci bir biçimde ele alan klasik materyalist görüşler ile göç olgusunun ele alınışı arasındaki paralelliği inceleyerek, göçün sadece bir problem olarak değil, toplumların yapı taşlarından biri olarak anlaşılması gerektiğini vurgulamaktır. Bataille’ın materyalizm eleştirisi, maddenin formsuz ve bayağı özellikleriyle ele alındığında, göç hakkında yeni bir bakış açısı sunar. Bu bakış açısı, göçü dışsal bir tehdit olarak değil, homojen kültürler içinde temel bir tepki olarak tanıma imkânı sağlar. Çalışma, bu yaklaşımın, göç hareketlerinin daha derinlemesine anlaşılmasına katkıda bulunacağını ve onların toplumları şekillendirmedeki temel rolünü vurgulayacağını iddia etmektedir. Bataille’ın düşünceleri aracılığıyla, bu araştırma, klasik materyalizmin indirgemeci görüşlerini sorgulamakta ve göçü daha incelikli bir perspektiften ele almayı önermektedir. Göçün temel materyalizm merceğinden analiz edilmesinin, toplumsal yapılar üzerindeki karmaşık etkilerini anlamada hayati olduğunu savunmaktadır.
Migration, one of the predominant issues of our contemporary world, is a human movement that, despite its disruptive nature, plays a foundational role in the formation of human culture. Before the entrenched concepts of society, state, citizenship, and homeland, there lies migration, whose problematic status in today’s world needs to be critically questioned. This study draws an analogical relationship between migration, often perceived as a problem to be eradicated, and the passive and reductionist material approaches in classical materialist views. This relationship is highlighted through the ideas of Georges Bataille, emphasizing the cyclical nature of dualistic approaches such as problem-solution and cause-effect. Consequently, Bataille’s notion of base materialism, which focuses on the irreducible aspects of matter, allows for considering migration not as an external threat but as an integral part of internal, or homogeneous, human culture.
Approaching migration movements through Bataille’s base materialism necessitates focusing on the formless aspect of matter, contrary to the matter-form dualism. Explicitly, the term “base” in Bataille’s materialism, which includes meanings of baseness and vileness, should be understood as a counteraction against the conceptual idealism in classical materialist views. Bataille illustrates the foundational function of the human toe dipped in mud to emphasize the grounding role of matter, in contrast to the overemphasis on the head, symbolizing reason and authority in modern civilization. This perspective critiques the tendency to disregard foundational but lowly perceived elements that significantly contribute to human culture and civilization.
This study examines migration through the lens of Bataille’s base materialism, exploring concepts such as irreducibility, logical difference, baseness, and active matter. The primary objective is to investigate what insights and conclusions might be derived when Bataille’s perspective is applied to migration, particularly through the example of refugees. By employing Bataille’s ideas, this study argues that base materialism provides a conducive framework for understanding migration movements as a foundational element rather than merely a problem to be solved.
Bataille’s dualistic and relational dialectical dynamic (homogeneous/heterogeneous, mana/taboo, etc.) aims to reveal a similar dualistic relationship between the nation-state and migration. The prevalent understanding of migration as a problem is often one-sided, focusing on migration itself. From a broader perspective, the notion that a solution requires a problem is explored through the dialectic relationships of form and matter, master and slave, as interpreted by Bataille as an alternative to Hegelian idealism. Staying true to this perspective, the cyclical nature of reconciliation is examined through the homogeneous/heterogeneous dichotomy, emphasizing the political nature of the problem itself. This suggests that migration can be seen as a form of self-critique of the nation-state and society.
In the homogeneous system where matter is grounded by form, the dialectical relationship between these concept pairs implies that the solution does not create the problem. This draws attention to the possibility of using the problem as a rational tool of homogeneous power in the practical derivatives of the heterogeneous. This can be understood as an alternative interpretation of the state’s self-identity in Hegelian philosophy when re-examined through Bataille’s concept pairs of heterogeneous/homogeneous.
When these concepts are applied to the terms nation-state and migration, the state rationalizes its existence around the nation, functionalizing the nation as its meaning (elevated heterogeneity/sacredness). Thus, while the state regulates its taboos that threaten its homogeneity through laws, elevated national values manifest as right-wing heterogeneity. The state’s ideals, established for grounding homogeneous productivity, are violated by left-wing, base heterogeneity. However, homogeneity creates the extreme or wasteful heterogeneous elements it designates as threats. Reducing everything to productivity and economic utility also determines which elements are considered threats based on homogeneous functionality.
The tension between the nation-state’s homogeneity and migration is framed by identifying migration as a crisis and a threat, stemming from state-originated decisions. The state creates migration as a threat while integrating this base, left-wing heterogeneity into the right-wing heterogeneity it justifies. This duality reveals the tension between the elevated heterogeneity of the right-wing and the unassimilable base heterogeneity of the left-wing. Thus, the issue of migration, particularly through refugees, signifies the irreducible and sensitive left-wing heterogeneity that the homogeneous system cannot assimilate.
In this context, the relationship between causality dissolves, and one does not become the problem or solution of the other. The fixed ideal perspective of seeing migration as a problem is a judgment of the abstraction method emphasized in base materialism. Therefore, approaches proposing the solution of migration as a problem by the nation-state resemble the dynamic of abstracting and subjugating the impossible in idealist/materialist presuppositions. Bataille’s perspective, free from fixed constants, highlights the transformative aspect of threats in coexistence, showing that migration cannot be merely dismissed as a surplus needing elimination, reform, or integration.
