Periscope articles and content
The global politics of resource scarcity is a chief theme of World of Matter’s practice, but another scarcity is evident too: a scarcity of representations by Indigenous and subaltern people, whose resources have been most exploited, first by colonialism … Continue reading “Refusing the Settler-Colonial Gaze”
“Already we are seeing the excesses of speculative urbanism, which leaves behind acres of crumbling, uninhabited concrete monuments. Indeed, it seems that the urban boom not only consumes vast amounts of land and resources in the process of construction, but also might in fact use up even more in the moment of dissolution.”
Oh Mister Hatfield, you’ve been good to us: You’ve made it rain in ways promiscuous! From Saugus down to San Diego’s Bay They bless you for the rains of yesterday. But Mister Hatfield, listen now; Make us this vow: … Continue reading “Geo-engineering: Climates of Control”
Responding to our “Postcolonial Ecologies” panel at September’s “Radical Materialisms” conference held at CUNY Graduate Center, World of Matter author Peter Mörtenböck identified two distinct, but interconnected questions animating our discussion. First: How do we align politically, theoretically, and … Continue reading “Provincializing Humanism: Reflections on World of Matter”
The People’s Climate March (PCM) in New York City last September drew nearly 400,000 people, making it the largest environmental rally ever. On the eve of the march, however, critics began to hurl stones. One critic pointed out that … Continue reading “The Environmental Dance”
Species extinctions are not new. Scientists say that evolution is relentless and ecology is incredibly dynamic: species have always been disappearing and emerging across multiple scales of time and place. Mass extinctions (i.e., cataclysms that wipe out three-quarters of … Continue reading “The World is Dead. Long Live the World.”
India’s strong man Narendra Modi embraces President Barak Obama. The photograph was taken during President Obama’s second visit to India, in January 2015. Obama has made two visits to India, more than any other US president in office. Source: … Continue reading “Indian Democracy and Hindu Populism: The Modi Regime”
Above, a volunteer for the Election Commission carrying Electronic Voting Machines calls for directions to a polling centre that he was to help set up and man in Hajipur, Bihar as it goes to polls in the second to … Continue reading “Modi Will Be Put to the Test”
After casting his vote quite early in the day, Yangala Chittiah (pictured above), a resident of Pydipalli in West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, spent the afternoon waving at voters heading to the polling station dressed as former chief minister YS … Continue reading “Regional parties are dead? Long live the regional parties!”
Indian resident Maqbool Alam Siddiqui watches a bank of televisions featuring images of Narendra Modi taking his oath as India’s Prime Minister in New Delhi at a multi brand electronic showroom in Mumbai on on May 26, 2014. New … Continue reading “Modi's Media”
Engulfed in a momentary dust storm induced by Bharatiya Janta Party candidate Narendra Modi’s helicopter as he departs from a public meeting in Robertsganj, Benaras (Varanasi), members of the crowd attempt to cover their faces and eyes as dry … Continue reading “The Majority of Democracy”
Much like an imitation of reality, a Narendra Modi fan watches the Ganga Aarti [ritual worship] on the banks of Benares (Varanasi), with a mask of the leader placed behind his head, facing away from the priest. Photo by … Continue reading “They Always Speak with their Eyes Cast Down: Dalits on the Margin of Indian Democracy”
My early university education at the then-very white University of Cape Town coincided with South Africa’s transition from Apartheid to democracy. Stuart Hall didn’t feature much, despite the fact, as I would later learn, I was indirectly influenced by … Continue reading “Stuart Hall's South African Legacy”
This Social Text: Periscope dossier arises from a two-day intensive seminar, Queer Temporalities: Reading Elizabeth Freeman’s Time Binds, a collaborative event co-organized by The(e)ories: Critical Theory and Sexuality Studies, which was held at University College Dublin, Ireland in November 2011. … Continue reading “In a Queer Time and Space: Slowly, Closely, Over Reading Elizabeth Freeman’s Time Binds”
I want to “linger, to dally, to take pleasure in tarrying” over Elizabeth Freeman’s concept of slow reading. Indeed, I want to read slowly, to take time, to take my time. Ever since the advent of New Criticism in the … Continue reading “Slow Reading”
