Bataille now in social work! -Can we take the liberty of thinking through Bataille on the road to contributory justice?

Working as a social pedagogue in a home facility for adults with disabilities, I was talking with a woman about what she does when she has no cigarettes. She told me how she goes to a male resident: “I simply knock on his door and ask if he wants something. Most times he only wants a blowjob, but other times he wants intercourse. I really hate it when he wants intercourse, but then I just tell him that I need vodka as well. After intercourse, I feel better if I drink vodka. Blowjobs are not so bad that I need vodka. I think he is a good friend because he always gives me what I need.”

I turned a blind eye.

Bataille’s work of sexualities and evil is in this paper linked to the notion of contributory injustice by Dotson who cites Pohlhaus: “Contributory injustice occurs because there are different hermeneutical resources that the perceiver could utilize besides structurally prejudiced hermeneutical resources, and the perceiver wilfully refuses ‘to acknowledge and acquire the necessary tools for knowing whole parts of the world.’ […] The agent plays a role in contributory injustice by wilfully refusing to recognize or acquire requisite alternative hermeneutical resources.” (Dotson 2012, p. 32)

When I wilfully refuse to acknowledge and acquire the necessary tools for knowing whole parts of the world which are important to my fellow citizen, then I am acting evil. Sadism is for Bataille the conscious and pleasurable destruction of another human being. Did I destroy her in her attempt to cry for help, so that I could stay on top of things and enjoy my pleasures? Was I contributory unjust? How could I have acted?

In moments like this, we need Bataille. In my talk, I will show how to analyse along with Bataille when working with contributory injustice in social work.


Works Referenced:

Dotson, K. (2012). A Cautionary Tale: On Limiting Epistemic Oppression. Frontiers 33 (1): 24-47.