Editing Performativity (section)

=== Jean-François Lyotard ===
In ''[[The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge]]'' (1979, English translation 1986), philosopher and cultural theorist [[Jean-François Lyotard]] defined performativity as the defining mode of [[legitimation]] of postmodern knowledge and social bonds, that is, power.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lyotard |first=Jean-Francois |url=https://archive.org/details/postmoderncondit00lyot |title=The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0816611737 |location=Minneapolis |url-access=registration}}</ref> In contrast to the legitimation of modern knowledge through such grand narratives as Progress, Revolution, and Liberation, performativity operates by system optimization or the calculation of input and outputs. In a footnote, Lyotard aligns performativity with Austin's concept of performative speech act. Postmodern knowledge must not only report: it must do something and do it efficiently by maximizing input/output ratios.

Lyotard uses [[Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophy of mathematics|Wittgenstein's]] notion of language games to theorize how performativity governs the articulation, funding, and conduct of contemporary research and education, arguing that at bottom it involves the threat of terror: "be operational (that is commensurable) or disappear" (xxiv). While Lyotard is highly critical of performativity, he notes that it calls on researchers to explain not only the worth of their work but also the worth of that worth.

Lyotard associated performativity with the rise of digital computers in the post-World War II period. In ''Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945,'' historian [[Tony Judt]] cites Lyotard to argue that the Left has largely abandoned revolutionary politics for human rights advocacy. The widespread adoption of performance reviews, organizational assessments, and learning outcomes by different social institutions worldwide has led social researchers to theorize "audit culture" and "global performativity".

Against performativity and [[Jürgen Habermas]]' call for consensus, Lyotard argued for legitimation by ''paralogy'', or the destabilizing, often paradoxical, introduction of difference into language games