Racism, Anti-Racism, & Mimesis

An interview with writer and entrepreneuer Chloé Valdary

I first encountered Chloé Valdary’s work while I was in the throes of writing Wanting. It was the summer of 2020. I was concerned that race issues in America were turning into a full-blown mimetic crisis, replete with scapegoats.

I reached out to her late last year after exploring her curriculum, Theory of Enchantment. I sent her a galley copy of my work. We connected over Zoom. We had a great conversation about a variety of things, including a realization that we’d both spent a lot of time around the same coffee shop in Brooklyn.

At that time, I thought that I wanted to include an entire section in my book about mimesis and race relations, mimetic politics, economics, and a host of other more controversial topics. But I quickly came to the realization that it would’ve been too much. A separate book.

In the meantime, though, the conversations had to start. They would form the basis for having anything worthwhile to say.

Why the Q&A Form

This is the first in what I hope will be a series of…