On apparatus: the biopolitical split between magic and technology

Abstract

In this text, we trace the biopolitical conditions that accredit some magical reticulations as technical procedures, ruling out others as illegitimate. We begin by indicating the conditions of relevance for the magical exercise: a context where the presence in the world becomes problematic and requires a rescue that recodifies the borders between the subject and the world. In para-capitalist contexts, this procedure consists of incorporating the threat as part of the solution. However, under the aegis of Christianity, knowledge of domination was established in the West (first as alchemy and then as technology) that guaranteed the permanence of presence while configuring an exorcist model to deal with threats. The consequence of this torsion where we focus our attention is the individualization of the crisis, which throws the vulnerable subjects into the field of management in charge of various devices. It is in these circumstances that magic, as collective knowledge, can observe re-emergences in the hands of groups at risk. This type of discourse can compete in the configuration of the social with the current imperial devices.