The cover article and accompanying special report in the September 9, 2010 issue of The Economist, “A Latin American Decade?” somewhat tentatively hail renewed ties between the region and the “developed” world after attempts to foster national industries and intraregional integration “have stagnated or fallen apart.” Not surprisingly, the ties that matter to the magazine derive from market-oriented reforms and commodity-driven booms that are “starting to attract increased interest from outsiders.” Despite a pattern of similar claims about foreign interest that began around 1492, The Economist knows what it sees: the transnational moment has arrived.
Online Features
Queer Liberalism and the Racialization of Intimacy
Social Text CollectiveThis talk, drawn from David L. Eng’s recent book The Feeling of Kinship, has been canceled and will be re-scheduled for 2011.
Affective Tendencies: Bodies, Pleasures, Sexualities
Social Text CollectiveOctober 7th – 9th
ST Collective members David Eng and Jasbir Puar will be among the Keynote Speakers.
Curtis Jackson and the Jeweled Skull
Chris Randle
It’s hard to say that someone had a bad year because they made fewer millions than usual. And it’s even harder to pity 50 Cent under any circumstances. But still, 2009 was rough on the hip-hop superstar otherwise known as … Continue reading “Curtis Jackson and the Jeweled Skull”
Resources of Hope
Ashley DawsonLast Saturday was a remarkable day of NYC-based, globe-spanning eco-activism. The day began with a trip up to the South Bronx, where friends of mine were involved in various local environmental justice initiatives. The organization Sustainable South Bronx sponsored a … Continue reading “Resources of Hope”
Trolling and refueling the tank of spectacle
Biella ColemanSo I got to Internet Trolls via my work on Anonymous vs the Church of Scientology but I have remained interested in grappling with them independent of Anonymous. In the last few weeks, I had the chance to bump up … Continue reading “Trolling and refueling the tank of spectacle”
From Bolivia to the Bronx and Beyond
Ashley DawsonJoin ST collective member Ashley Dawson on Saturday, September 18th for a forum on Climate Justice featuring Father Miguel D’Escoto, former President of the U.N. General Assembly, Bolivian Ambassador Pablo Solon, Tanya Fields of Mothers on the Move (Bronx), and … Continue reading “From Bolivia to the Bronx and Beyond”
Counting Towards Tenure
Tavia Nyong'oWho is counting on tenure? We are all counting on tenure, it seems, as the professional horizon of intellectual work, as the foundation of security upon which any edifice of independent thought might withstand the forces of erosion in our time. However, as far as the New York Times can tell, tenure primarily counts as a politically neutral reward for professionalism and an accommodation to a hierarchical ideal of expertise. Missing from this is any body count of those intellectuals whose activity inside and out of the academia, while crucial to its functioning, are not tracked for tenure.
Featured on NPR: The Citizen Machine
Social Text CollectiveSocial Text Collective member Anna McCarthy was a guest on WNYC’s Leonard Lopate Show to discuss her recent book The Citizen Machine: Governing by Television in 1950’s America.
The interview aired on the August 3rd broadcast but can be listened to in its entirety by clicking the link above.
Interview: Richard Ledes on Haiti and Horror Movies
Kristina HuangIntroduction: Richard Ledes is an award-winning New York City-based filmmaker. His films include A Hole in One (2004) and The Caller (2008), which won Tribeca Film Festival’s Made in New York award. His current project, Foreclosure, is a … Continue reading “Interview: Richard Ledes on Haiti and Horror Movies”
"Will I Die Before They Get To Know Me?"
Michael Ralph“Will I Die Before They Get To Know Me?” From J. Cole to Oscar Grant III “Will I live or will I die before they get to know me? If I go, I know the ones that’s pourin’ liquor for … Continue reading “"Will I Die Before They Get To Know Me?"”
The Decision
Khalilah Brown-DeanAs a scholar who is deeply intrigued by both the ingredients and political consequences of public opinion, I often gauge public sentiment by simply reading the status messages and posts of my friends on Facebook and Twitter. These social media … Continue reading “The Decision”
Old Wounds and New Pain
Khalil Gibran MuhammadThe past can be like an old wound that never heals, especially when the scab keeps being picked. In the wake of Oakland transit cop Johannes Mesherle’s recent involuntary manslaughter conviction for the on-duty shooting death of unarmed, 22-year-old Oscar … Continue reading “Old Wounds and New Pain”
Justice for Oscar Grant
R. LHeureux Lewis“Justice for Oscar Grant!” As I sit in front of these keys I know that I could have written this essay 100 times before and will likely need to write it 100 more times before I die, simply because I … Continue reading “Justice for Oscar Grant”
New from a Social Text Author: The Citizen Machine
Social Text CollectiveThe Citizen Machine: Governing by Television in 1950s America
by Anna McCarthy
Formed in the shadow of the early Cold War, amid the first stirrings of the civil rights movement, the idea of television as a form of unofficial government inspired corporate executives, foundation officers, and other members of the governing classes to imagine TV sponsorship as a powerful new form of influence on American democracy in the postwar years. The Citizen Machine tells the story of their efforts to shape U.S. political culture, uncovering a dense web of fantasies and rationalizations about race, class, and economic power that have profoundly shaped not only television, but our understanding of American citizenship itself.