Mystical Counter-Conducts and Post-Anarchism Today

My argument, in this article, is for the role that mysticism can play in the elaboration of contemporary forms of counter-conduct that might contribute to the production of anarchistic alternatives to neoliberalism. To make this argument, I draw on Meister Eckhart's theorization of the mystical praxis of detachment. My claim is that detachment can function, on an individual level, as a form of counter-conduct that can contribute to the post-anarchist "insurrection of the self" by helping to facilitate the emergence of alternative, anarchistic, forms of subjectivity to those demanded by neoliberalism. I make the further claim that the mystical subjectivities that emerge from this can, in turn, contribute to the production of more collective forms of counter-conduct that, as part of the post-anarchist project of "structural renewal" might function to create prefigurative alternatives to neoliberalism as part of an emergent mystical society.