New Yorkers took to the streets on September 5, 2017 to defend DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced its closure. Erik McGregor/PA Images. All rights reserved.While working on the politics of citizenship at the Friendly Fire conference, we focused on civil society initiatives that struggle to create new political forms of belonging and on initiatives that try to reclaim the state as a “people’s platform”. In this context, an interview undertaken with the political theorist Michael Hardt was instructive in rethinking the relationship between social movements and the state. Hardt is best known for his work with the philosopher Toni Negri – their trilogy “Empire”, “Multitude” and “Commonwealth” has had a great impact on thinking and acting politically in the 21st century.
Krystian Woznicki (KW): In your recent work with Toni Negri – such as the new book “Assembly” – you have focused on cooperation in general, and on building robust institutions from within social movements in particular. In contrast, you seem not to consider it key to 'rebuild' or 'repair' the state and its institutions. But is this really an either/or issue, or is it rather about whether and how to reconcile both approaches?
Michael Hardt (MH): You are certainly right that this is not an either/or issue and that we can engage state institutions at the same time that we develop the power of social movements.
