Join 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”
Online Features
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.
Performing the Future
Social Text CollectiveSocial Text collective member José Muñoz will be among the presenters at this state of the field conference on performance, to be held July 8th – 10th, 2010, at the House of World Cultures in Berlin. Click here for the full conference program.
World Cup Soccer: Enjoyment and Identification
Eli Jelly-SchapiroFootball fans can be divided, somewhat crudely, into two categories: those attracted to the game for aesthetic gratification; and those whose fandom is rather driven by feelings of group solidarity. These categories are not mutually exclusive. A beautiful move acquires even greater beauty when performed by a player or team with whom one identifies; feelings of solidarity are emboldened when joined to rare artistry.
On the Subject of Citizenship
Micki McGeeJust in time for the Independence Day weekend, the Library of Congress has released new research on the Declaration of Independence. Apparently when Thomas Jefferson was drafting the document he initially used the word “subjects,” then blotted it out and replaced it with the word “citizens.” Library of Congress preservation researcher Dr. Fenella France has used spectral photographic imagery to uncover the original markings. In the popular press, Jefferson’s writing is described as a “Freudian slip” …
New dossier on Cruising Utopia
Social Text CollectiveAs we exit a more contentious than usual month of Gay Pride, Social Text brings you this dossier of critical appreciations of long-standing collective member José Esteban Muñoz’s new book, Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity. Read responses from Lauren Berlant, Barbara Browning, Gayatri Gopinath, and Ricardo Ortiz. Muñoz responds to his responses, and performance art legend Vaginal Davis contributes an original illustration inspired by Cruising Utopia.
Desiring Just Economies / Just Economies of Desire
Social Text CollectiveSocial Text collective member Lisa Duggan is among the speakers at this conference to be held 24-26 June, 2010 at the Institute for Cultural Inquiry in Berlin. Desiring Just Economies / Just Economies of Desire, according to it’s organizers, will “explore how desire not only sustains current economies, but also carries the potential for inciting new forms of understanding and doing economy.” Read the full conference statement and get more details here.
Bafana Bafana: The Reckoning
Eli Jelly-SchapiroWhen Siphiwe Tshabalala scored for Bafana Bafana against Mexico on June 11, he provided the World Cup the sublime opening note longed for by his country, and by followers of football across the planet. Mexico’s late equalizer dampened the local … Continue reading “Bafana Bafana: The Reckoning”