Tiqqun is the name of a French philosophical journal, founded in 1999 with an aim to "recreate the conditions of another community." It was created by various writers, before dissolving in Venice, Italy in 2001 following the attacks of September 11, 2001. The journal was the object of some interest in the media after the arrest of Julien Coupat, one of its founders.
Contents
Tiqqun is also, more generally, the name of the philosophical concept which stems from these texts, and is often used in a broad sense to name the many publications containing the journal's texts, in order to designate, if not a specific author, at least "a point of spirit from which these writings come."
Tiqqun became better known to an American audience in 2009 and 2010 after Glenn Beck featured commentary on the English edition of The Coming Insurrection (rumoured to be co-authored by several former members of the Tiqqun collective) in his media broadcasts.
Origin and use of the name
The name of the journal comes from the great importance that the writers give to the philosophical concept of Tiqqun (the best definitions are found in the texts Theory of Bloom and Introduction to Civil War). It is the French transcription of the original Hebrew term Tikkun olam, a concept issuing from Judaism, often used in the kabbalistic and messianic traditions, which simultaneously indicates reparation, restitution, and redemption. It has also come to designate, more broadly, a contemporary Jewish conception of social justice.
Affiliations
Tiqqun’s poetic style and radical political engagement are akin to the Situationists and the Lettrists. Tiqqun has influenced radical political and philosophical milieus, post-Situationist groups, and other elements of ultra-left, squat and autonomist movements, as well as some anarchists. Tiqqun’s themes and concepts are strongly influenced by the work of the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben, who in turn wrote a public editorial supporting Coupat's due process legal rights.