Deconstructing the DMZ: Derrida, Levinas and the phenomenology of peace

Abstract

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) has been a global symbol of perpetual conflict, hatred and distrust since its establishment in 1953 after the Korean War. The 155-mile ceasefire line has given birth to moral pathologies in the minds of Korean people that include ‘otherness is evil’, ‘containment of war is peace’ and ‘restoration of the same is unification’. The purpose of this article is to reduce these moral pathologies through Jacques Derrida’s deconstructive approach and Emmanuel Levinas’s ethics of the Other. Through tripartite reduction of these moral ideologies of the DMZ, an ethical thesis is developed that peace is not a mere state of the absence of war, but rather a welcoming of radical others and differences. It is also argued that unification is not about restoring the same ‘original we’, but about co-reconstruction of the ‘democratic we’.

The Relationships between Tourism Destination Competitiveness, Empowerment, and Supportive Actions for Tourism

“…The DMZ is 250 km (i.e., 155 miles) long and has a total width of 4 km (i.e., 2.5 miles) on the military demarcation line (MDL). The DMZ extends from three administrative provinces (i.e., Incheon, Gyeonggi-do, and Gangwon-do) and includes nine cities and counties (i.e., Ganghaw, Gimpo, Paju, Yeoncheon, Cheolwon, Hawcheon, Yanggu, Inje, and Goseong [2,29]. Tourists visiting the DMZ and Panmumjom are required to present ID cards at the closest access point to North Korea [30].…”

Normative Power Europe and the importance of discursive context: The European Union and the politics of religion

“…(Derrida cited in Cherif et al, 2009: 44) The universalist/particularist distinction is the relevant focus for this paper. Therefore, it does not deal with elements such as Habermas' more recent interest in religion or Derrida's focus on the play of differences, deconstruction or ethics (for an empirical example of the use of these aspects of Derrida in IR see, for example, Ahn [2010]). …”

Military landscapes

“…Personnel engage with landscape, but not necessarily in ways supportive of dominant military modes of understanding, and we should be alert to their small acts of resistance and the enactment of community and solidarity in the face of the power and authority of military institutions as this is played out across landscapes (Woodward and Jenkings, 2012). We can consider also the opportunities that the study of military landscapes offers for thinking through the moral ideologies expressed in these places and for considering how they might contribute to an ethics of peace, as Ahn (2010) suggests with reference to the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea. Koopman's (2008) advocacy of the role of the scholar-activist in bearing witness to violence and violation at militarized sites is also pertinent.…”