On Cruel Optimism

sianne ngai

  Teaching “Sex in Public” (1998) a few months ago while in the middle of reading Cruel Optimism, I was struck anew by the moment when Berlant and Warner confront Biddy Martin’s critique of an aversion to the ordinary in … Continue reading “On Cruel Optimism”

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Optimistic Cruelty

Lisa Duggan

  Lauren Berlant’s Cruel Optimism has the uncanny quality of illuminating for readers what we believe we already knew.  Her renderings of the affective quality of everyday life at the center of a declining US American empire, offered to us … Continue reading “Optimistic Cruelty”

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How Does It Feel?

kayla wazana tompkins

As someone who has been writing about food and eating for a long time, I am most intrigued with Cruel Optimism‘s engagement with eating in the third chapter, “Slow Death: Sovereignty, Obesity, Lateral Agency.” My sense is that food exists … Continue reading “How Does It Feel?”

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Tone on the Range

kathryn bond stockton

  Lauren’s thought is fat: rich and extensive, spreading with pleasure.  And I’m headed to murder, fat, and luxury as I seek to fete her.  First, however, something in Lauren’s tone is moving.   The sly, alluring sadism of optimism … Continue reading “Tone on the Range”

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Palestine

Social Text Collective

In January 2012, a delegation of scholars and teachers working in the United States went on a week-long investigative trip to Israel/Palestine organized by the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. The trip resulted in a … Continue reading “Palestine”

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