“ZOMIA” AS A MODEL OF NON-WESTERN POLITICAL RESISTANCE

Abstract

Various forms of state power are associated with various forms of resistance. This article argues that there is not only a Western or non-Western form of state power, but also the corresponding Western and non-Western forms of political resistance. Methodologically, the article is based on a semantic-pragmatic approach to the formation of concepts. This article clarifi es the concept of “non-Western political resistance.” First, the semantics of this concept is determined through a review of relevant scientifi c literature, namely the works of M. Foucault, M. Mann, I. Neumann and J. Habermas, and then using it studies Zomia as a case of a non-Western form of resistance. As a result of the conceptual study, the following conclusions can be made. Western forms of state power are based on governmentality or infrastructural power. Such governance methods give rise to their corresponding Western strategies of political resistance, based on the deliberative form of democracy as the closest to democracy based on communicative rationality. Non-Western forms of state power are understood as governance practices based on disciplinary or despotic power. They give rise to forms of non-Western resistance corresponding to them, which include either the desire to physically move away from state control in geographically inaccessible areas (the case of Zomia), or protest resistance up to civil wars and terrorism.