The Politics of Tragedy

Presented at the Northeastern Political Science Association Annual Conference

Link to Program: https://convention2.allacademic.com/one/npsa/npsa12/index.php?click_key=1&cmd=Multi+Search+Search+Load+Publication&publication_id=601540&PHPSESSID=fam1asakkuq0o4qtpdmoor35km

Public officials, journalists and ordinary citizens frequently use such words as "tragedy" and "tragic" when trying to make sense of burdensome events and painful setbacks. Political theorists and philosophers have long used the example of Greek tragedy and notions of the tragic to reflect on the nature and promise of political participation in modern life. This paper offers a way to understand the deep connections between these two seemingly disparate discourses of tragedy by drawing upon the ordinary language techniques and language game analyses developed by Hanna Pitkin in her work on Wittgenstein. This paper considers how, during times of crisis, tragedy often becomes a flashpoint for politically relevant arguments over political agency, solidarity and identity.