Absence in Common : An Operator for the Inoperative Community

a commonly desired ultimate foundation or ground is full unity, community, or consensus, which is often, if not typically, figured as lost or perhaps lacking, usually because of the intrusive presence of others seen as outsiders or polluters of the city or the body politic. One may, however, insist that such unity, community, or consensus is absent and that the sociopolitical problem is how to deal with that absence as well as the differences and forms of conflict that accompany it. Dominick LaCapra, "Trauma, Absence, Loss" [1]