Crisis Between the Wars: Derrida and the Origins of Undecidability

T     deconstruction has so far resisted historicization. But perhaps the crucial factor has been the continuing presence of its main practitioner, Jacques Derrida, who refused, one might say, to become part of history. Right up to his death in October of 2004, Derrida wrote about some of the key issues facing the world today. So while deconstruction as a ‘‘theory’’ has largely faded from the academic scene in the last decade, even in North America, where it had its greatest impact, notably in literary and cultural studies, Derrida himself seemed to have escaped obsolescence. This has, it seems to me, beenmostly due to his decision (some would say belated decision) to engage directly the kind of political, legal, and ethical questions that had for the most part been rather marginal to deconstruction in its early incarnation. Derrida’s own turn to the political can be traced to his dramatic, audacious, and highly influential talk ‘‘Force of Law: the ‘Mystical Foundations of Authority’ ’’ given in 1989 at theCardozo Law School. Derrida would soon publish other significant texts that dwelled on critical political issues, most prominently his books Spectres of Marx (1993) and Politics of Friendship (1994). However controversial his ideas may have been, Derrida’s politicized version of deconstruction allowed him (and deconstruction) to stay relevant in an intel-