The Politics ofDualism: right and leftRodrigo G. Guimaraes The Culture ofRight and LeftThis essay will try to navigate an issue that is seento harbor controversy; actually, to embody controversy itself. It is the issue of the left/right dualism inpolitics. The subject in thecontemporary West assimilates from an early age the fears and anxieties that aclash of 'left' and 'right' is supposed to be marked by: the fears andanxieties of loosing control over one's life if from one moment to the nextlife is to be governed by completely different rules, not in accord with whatone understands it to be. The subject isurged to pick one side, or even to pick both, but nevertheless to be able torecognize the supposedly inherent differences between them. Everything from the arts to the sciences,politics, everyday life, culture, and even spirituality is made into an objectthat possesses an identitarian component to it. Everything is seen as fallinginto the left/right spectrum, as if from left to right, or vice-versa, theworld could be re-presented. Everything as in a duplication of the worldby a polar spectrum. Subjects, eventsand objects are to be measured in a rather quantitative fashion, as "Justhow much to the right is this affirmation? Is it not center-right?". The world as a metric, polar ruler. The political dualism stands as oneof the main forces of identitarian dualisms, whereby one is asked to identifyas either left or right, for or against some issue. The non-identification on one of the sides isregarded as a sign of political immaturity or outright personal failure.The essay will not be moralistic, saying what shouldbe done with regards to left and right in the terms they are rather familiarwith, such as good/evil. This will notbe a call for an "end of all dualisms", or for a "holistic"paradigm. These reactive responses withregards to the political dualism reproduce the same narrative of the inherentlydual world experience. Rather, thisessay will link claims on the foundations of left and right to systems ofthought and institutional practices. What is most relevant in this venture isnot to explain the 'origin' of the dualism, or to offer a final statement on'what should be done', but to understand the events in their multiple andcontradictory effects in the world. Tolook critically at this dualism is not the same as being "beyond" it. Nor is it the same as offering a"neutral" perspective. Social-political movements and forms ofthought as diverse as feminism, anarchism, postcoloniality, and anthropologyare helpful in thinking over the effects of the left/right dualism in livedworlds. Michel Foucaults thoughts onpolitics as war and racism will also be central. The thoughts presented here, though, are onlya sketch of a work-in-progress.PoliticalScience and the Personification of Left/Right DualismsAs with every institution of the State apparatus,party politics also has today its legitimization through forms of scientificknowledge. Out of these, politicalscience stands out as one of the main doctrines of constant maintenance of theinstitutional status quo. Clearly, there are resistances within thediscipline, many of which are very much in agreement with what will be exposedin this text.[1] However, for reasons I am about to show, thebooks and thoughts on