Macarena Gómez-Barris, George Ciccariello-Maher and Gabriel Hetland
On April 22, Lisa Duggan convened a conversation between Gabriel Hetland and George Ciccariello-Maher, moderated by Macarena Gómez-Barris, at New York University’s Department of Social and Cultural Analysis. The participants have edited their remarks to present here. Thinking with Venezuela’s … Continue reading “Crisis in Venezuela: The US Left, Solidarities, and What Is to Be Done?”
In many cultures, both contemporary and ancient, hearing voices and seeing visions are not considered signs of disease. Yet western culture defines these experiences as irrefutable evidence of mental illness. The most common diagnosis applied to people who experience … Continue reading “Ashrams vs. Antipsychotics”
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”
China Miéville is the recipient of multiple awards for his speculative/science/weird fiction novels, and the only author ever to win three Arthur C. Clarke Awards. His most recent novel, Embassytown, came out in May 2011 and has received enthusiastic reviews. As well … Continue reading “Socialist Irrealism: an interview with China Miéville”
President Obama recently gave two speeches that should be seen as signposts of contemporary U.S. empire. Their continuity with American exceptionalist rhetoric of the past is striking, underlining the extent to which Obama is trapped within the paradigms of the past.
