#socialtheory — Public Fediverse posts

the old magic that made me

The physical form of the book somehow contains not just the pulp and the print, but the ideas and images as well.

https://www.velcro-city.co.uk/the-old-magic-that-made-me/

#Art #Criticism #Philosophy #SocialTheory #Technology

Being a bit geeky here, but I really can't wait to read this collection of essays in honour of Gillian Rose, a truly unique philosopher. #Philosophy #Hegel #CriticalTheory #SocialTheory crmep.co.uk/books/promise

Promise & perdition in the tho...

The sociological distinction between subcultures and countercultures provides a vital framework for understanding modern cultural evolution. 🏛️📜

I am pleased to share an insightful new article by Dennis Joiner: "Subculture and Counterculture Explained: How Small Groups Shape Society and Identity."

Full article here:
🔗 https://www.djoinerbooks.com/subculture-and-counterculture/

#Sociology #CulturalEvolution #DennisJoiner #SocialTheory #PublicInterest #HumanAgency

The sociological distinction between subcultures and countercultures provides a vital framework for understanding modern cultural evolution. 🏛️📜

I am pleased to share an insightful new article by Dennis Joiner: "Subculture and Counterculture Explained: How Small Groups Shape Society and Identity."

Full article here:
🔗 https://www.djoinerbooks.com/subculture-and-counterculture/

#Sociology #CulturalEvolution #DennisJoiner #SocialTheory #PublicInterest #HumanAgency

The sociological distinction between subcultures and countercultures provides a vital framework for understanding modern cultural evolution. 🏛️📜

I am pleased to share an insightful new article by Dennis Joiner: "Subculture and Counterculture Explained: How Small Groups Shape Society and Identity."

Full article here:
🔗 https://www.djoinerbooks.com/subculture-and-counterculture/

#Sociology #CulturalEvolution #DennisJoiner #SocialTheory #PublicInterest #HumanAgency

The sociological distinction between subcultures and countercultures provides a vital framework for understanding modern cultural evolution. 🏛️📜

I am pleased to share an insightful new article by Dennis Joiner: "Subculture and Counterculture Explained: How Small Groups Shape Society and Identity."

Full article here:
🔗 https://www.djoinerbooks.com/subculture-and-counterculture/

#Sociology #CulturalEvolution #DennisJoiner #SocialTheory #PublicInterest #HumanAgency

The sociological distinction between subcultures and countercultures provides a vital framework for understanding modern cultural evolution. 🏛️📜

I am pleased to share an insightful new article by Dennis Joiner: "Subculture and Counterculture Explained: How Small Groups Shape Society and Identity."

Full article here:
🔗 https://www.djoinerbooks.com/subculture-and-counterculture/

#Sociology #CulturalEvolution #DennisJoiner #SocialTheory #PublicInterest #HumanAgency

The philosophical giant Jürgen Habermas has left us.

Habermas spent decades championing the "theory of communicative action" - the idea that democracy only functions when we actually listen to one another. Without his guiding voice, we face a chilling reality: a world where the loudest lies often drown out the most reasoned truths.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Habermas

#Habermas #Democracy #Philosophy #PublicSphere #Communication #SocialTheory

I've just been writing about "Vertigo: The Rise and Fall of Weimar Germany" by Harald Jähnner.

One author discussed there is Helmuth Plessner, with a focus on his 1924 "Grenzen der Gemeinschaft" (Limits of Community).

Katja Haustein wrote about Plessner in a TLS review (24/4/20) of his "Political Anthropology":

>>In Political Anthropology (Macht und menschliche Natur), written in 1931, Plessner discusses the anthropological origins of the human tendency to give in to authoritarian forms of government. Closely linked to his earlier and more accessible essay, The Limits of Community (1924), the book reads as a passionate warning against the rise of social and political radicalism that so exhausted the Weimar Republic. Much of Plessner's argument is based on what Richard Sennett has called the "tyrannies of intimacy". Plessner claimed that the central problem of modern subjectivity was not a growing distance between individuals, but, on the contrary, its disappearance. He curbed widespread expectations that promote politicized conceptions of community (Gemeinschaft) as a space in which alienation would dissolve. He attacked the idealization of a "seamless togetherness" tainted by nationalist colours, and defended the idea of society (Gesellschaft) as a space in which distance affords man his dignity. <<

I've got to read some Plessner!

Image: Wikipedia

#HelmuthPlessner #Philosophy #SocialTheory #Germany #WeimarRepublic

I've just been writing about "Vertigo: The Rise and Fall of Weimar Germany" by Harald Jähnner.

One author discussed there is Helmuth Plessner, with a focus on his 1924 "Grenzen der Gemeinschaft" (Limits of Community).

Katja Haustein wrote about Plessner in a TLS review (24/4/20) of his "Political Anthropology":

>>In Political Anthropology (Macht und menschliche Natur), written in 1931, Plessner discusses the anthropological origins of the human tendency to give in to authoritarian forms of government. Closely linked to his earlier and more accessible essay, The Limits of Community (1924), the book reads as a passionate warning against the rise of social and political radicalism that so exhausted the Weimar Republic. Much of Plessner's argument is based on what Richard Sennett has called the "tyrannies of intimacy". Plessner claimed that the central problem of modern subjectivity was not a growing distance between individuals, but, on the contrary, its disappearance. He curbed widespread expectations that promote politicized conceptions of community (Gemeinschaft) as a space in which alienation would dissolve. He attacked the idealization of a "seamless togetherness" tainted by nationalist colours, and defended the idea of society (Gesellschaft) as a space in which distance affords man his dignity. <<

I've got to read some Plessner!

Image: Wikipedia

#HelmuthPlessner #Philosophy #SocialTheory #Germany #WeimarRepublic

I've just been writing about "Vertigo: The Rise and Fall of Weimar Germany" by Harald Jähnner.

One author discussed there is Helmuth Plessner, with a focus on his 1924 "Grenzen der Gemeinschaft" (Limits of Community).

Katja Haustein wrote about Plessner in a TLS review (24/4/20) of his "Political Anthropology":

>>In Political Anthropology (Macht und menschliche Natur), written in 1931, Plessner discusses the anthropological origins of the human tendency to give in to authoritarian forms of government. Closely linked to his earlier and more accessible essay, The Limits of Community (1924), the book reads as a passionate warning against the rise of social and political radicalism that so exhausted the Weimar Republic. Much of Plessner's argument is based on what Richard Sennett has called the "tyrannies of intimacy". Plessner claimed that the central problem of modern subjectivity was not a growing distance between individuals, but, on the contrary, its disappearance. He curbed widespread expectations that promote politicized conceptions of community (Gemeinschaft) as a space in which alienation would dissolve. He attacked the idealization of a "seamless togetherness" tainted by nationalist colours, and defended the idea of society (Gesellschaft) as a space in which distance affords man his dignity. <<

I've got to read some Plessner!

Image: Wikipedia

#HelmuthPlessner #Philosophy #SocialTheory #Germany #WeimarRepublic

I've just been writing about "Vertigo: The Rise and Fall of Weimar Germany" by Harald Jähnner.

One author discussed there is Helmuth Plessner, with a focus on his 1924 "Grenzen der Gemeinschaft" (Limits of Community).

Katja Haustein wrote about Plessner in a TLS review (24/4/20) of his "Political Anthropology":

>>In Political Anthropology (Macht und menschliche Natur), written in 1931, Plessner discusses the anthropological origins of the human tendency to give in to authoritarian forms of government. Closely linked to his earlier and more accessible essay, The Limits of Community (1924), the book reads as a passionate warning against the rise of social and political radicalism that so exhausted the Weimar Republic. Much of Plessner's argument is based on what Richard Sennett has called the "tyrannies of intimacy". Plessner claimed that the central problem of modern subjectivity was not a growing distance between individuals, but, on the contrary, its disappearance. He curbed widespread expectations that promote politicized conceptions of community (Gemeinschaft) as a space in which alienation would dissolve. He attacked the idealization of a "seamless togetherness" tainted by nationalist colours, and defended the idea of society (Gesellschaft) as a space in which distance affords man his dignity. <<

I've got to read some Plessner!

Image: Wikipedia

#HelmuthPlessner #Philosophy #SocialTheory #Germany #WeimarRepublic

I've just been writing about "Vertigo: The Rise and Fall of Weimar Germany" by Harald Jähnner.

One author discussed there is Helmuth Plessner, with a focus on his 1924 "Grenzen der Gemeinschaft" (Limits of Community).

Katja Haustein wrote about Plessner in a TLS review (24/4/20) of his "Political Anthropology":

>>In Political Anthropology (Macht und menschliche Natur), written in 1931, Plessner discusses the anthropological origins of the human tendency to give in to authoritarian forms of government. Closely linked to his earlier and more accessible essay, The Limits of Community (1924), the book reads as a passionate warning against the rise of social and political radicalism that so exhausted the Weimar Republic. Much of Plessner's argument is based on what Richard Sennett has called the "tyrannies of intimacy". Plessner claimed that the central problem of modern subjectivity was not a growing distance between individuals, but, on the contrary, its disappearance. He curbed widespread expectations that promote politicized conceptions of community (Gemeinschaft) as a space in which alienation would dissolve. He attacked the idealization of a "seamless togetherness" tainted by nationalist colours, and defended the idea of society (Gesellschaft) as a space in which distance affords man his dignity. <<

I've got to read some Plessner!

Image: Wikipedia

#HelmuthPlessner #Philosophy #SocialTheory #Germany #WeimarRepublic

right about the problems but hilariously, tragically wrong about the solutions

Everyone seems to be talking or thinking or reading (about) Stewart Brand right now, which I presume must mean he's made or making or about to make some new intervention in the culture.

https://www.velcro-city.co.uk/right-about-the-problems-but-hilariously-tragically-wrong-about-the-solutions/

#Criticism #Futures #InfrastructuralTheory #SocialTheory #Technology

As a progressive liberal that used to be libtarted.

By which i mean socially progressive but largely unaware of the wider systems which perpetuated systemic inequality.

There is a lot to learn within progressivism from the dialectic between the communal necessity of communist theory and the just individualistic focus of anarchist theory.

#Progressivism #SocialTheory

no one thinks deeply enough to notice

I have next to zero interest in that Wuthering Heights movie. So why did I read this long piece that takes it as a jumping-off point?

https://www.velcro-city.co.uk/no-one-thinks-deeply-enough-to-notice/

#Art #Criticism #Movies #SocialTheory

The Institute for Critical Social Theory’s Call for Paper for their 2nd annual conference is now available. This year we will meet in Istanbul! #philosophy #sociology #psychology #psychoanalysis #university #politics #istanbul #theory #criticaltheory #war #religion #socialtheory #anthropology #academicconference
See the full call for papers here: https://www.criticalsocialtheory.com

other, earlier modes of living are fully open to us

I was amused and delighted to discover that David Wengrow actually shares certain philosophical territory with none other than Alan Moore.

https://www.velcro-city.co.uk/other-earlier-modes-of-living-are-fully-open-to-us/

#ClimateChange #Futures #Philosophy #Politics #SocialTheory

In this video, I describe the gender debate in terms of ontology, grammar, and incommensurability.

https://philosophics.blog/2026/02/10/ontology-grammar-and-incommensurability/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

This is part of a series of use cases that demonstrate the mechanics of my essay, 'Grammatical Failure: Why Liberal Epistemology Cannot Diagnose Indoctrination' (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18521457).

#philosophy #socialtheory #gendertheory #communication #ontology #epistemology #grammar #conflict #debate #gender #colour #race #politics #power #theory #essay #video #language

“community” as content, and as form

Schismogenesis and mimetic desire are the yin and yang dynamics at the heart of "community". Stable cultures must presumably therefore have a good balance of the two.

https://www.velcro-city.co.uk/community-as-content-and-as-form/

#Futures #Philosophy #Politics #SocialTheory #Sociology

dead media beat: mass-market paperbacks

Ballard needed the cliches of the genre to push against, but he also needed a medium cheap enough to allow him to take risks in doing so.

https://www.velcro-city.co.uk/dead-media-beat-mass-market-paperbacks/

#Art #Criticism #ScienceFiction #SocialTheory

I’ve been up all night building something I probably should have left to saner versions of myself: a custom GPT that actually internalises my Mediated Encounter Ontology (MEOW) and my forthcoming Language Insufficiency Hypothesis (LIH).

https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/25/announcement-meow-gpt/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=meow

#philosophy #language #gpt #Ontology #Epistemology #GenerativeAI #PhilosophyOfMind #SocialTheory #Modernity #Postmodernism #StructuralAnalysis #SystemsThinking #Amwriting #blog #podcast #Chatgpt #model #culture #analysis #psychology

I’ve been up all night building something I probably should have left to saner versions of myself: a custom GPT that actually internalises my Mediated Encounter Ontology (MEOW) and my forthcoming Language Insufficiency Hypothesis (LIH).

https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/25/announcement-meow-gpt/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=meow

#philosophy #language #gpt #Ontology #Epistemology #GenerativeAI #PhilosophyOfMind #SocialTheory #Modernity #Postmodernism #StructuralAnalysis #SystemsThinking #Amwriting #blog #podcast #Chatgpt #model #culture #analysis #psychology

I’ve been up all night building something I probably should have left to saner versions of myself: a custom GPT that actually internalises my Mediated Encounter Ontology (MEOW) and my forthcoming Language Insufficiency Hypothesis (LIH).

https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/25/announcement-meow-gpt/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=meow

#philosophy #language #gpt #Ontology #Epistemology #GenerativeAI #PhilosophyOfMind #SocialTheory #Modernity #Postmodernism #StructuralAnalysis #SystemsThinking #Amwriting #blog #podcast #Chatgpt #model #culture #analysis #psychology

I’ve been up all night building something I probably should have left to saner versions of myself: a custom GPT that actually internalises my Mediated Encounter Ontology (MEOW) and my forthcoming Language Insufficiency Hypothesis (LIH).

https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/25/announcement-meow-gpt/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=meow

#philosophy #language #gpt #Ontology #Epistemology #GenerativeAI #PhilosophyOfMind #SocialTheory #Modernity #Postmodernism #StructuralAnalysis #SystemsThinking #Amwriting #blog #podcast #Chatgpt #model #culture #analysis #psychology

I’ve been up all night building something I probably should have left to saner versions of myself: a custom GPT that actually internalises my Mediated Encounter Ontology (MEOW) and my forthcoming Language Insufficiency Hypothesis (LIH).

https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/25/announcement-meow-gpt/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=meow

#philosophy #language #gpt #Ontology #Epistemology #GenerativeAI #PhilosophyOfMind #SocialTheory #Modernity #Postmodernism #StructuralAnalysis #SystemsThinking #Amwriting #blog #podcast #Chatgpt #model #culture #analysis #psychology

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyk6kvyxvzo

In reflecting on my reaction to the news of this insufferable parasite's greed, I try to understand the interaction of emotion and cognition within me and how I make sense of the relation between agent and structure.

#ElonMusk #Tesla #SocialTheory

Are you exploring Alternative Food Networks? You should check out the work of Dr. Alissa Overend!

Alissa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at MacEwan University. Their 2021 book Shifting Food Facts (Routledge Press) examined the shifting food truths of contemporary dietary discourse and was featured in a webinar on CAFS YT: “The Many Truths of Food and Nutrition.” Their current work explores alternative food networks in Alberta.

Alissa currently serves on the Canadian Associate for Food Studies Board in the role of Membership Engagement.

https://youtu.be/Zm0iiYqoQ5I

#MeetTheBoard #AlternativeFoodNetworks #FoodStudies #CriticalFoodStudies #DietaryDiscourse #CAFS #Sociology #SocialTheory #IntersectionalFeminism #MediaAnalysis #DiscourseAnalysis

Are you exploring Alternative Food Networks? You should check out the work of Dr. Alissa Overend!

Alissa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at MacEwan University. Their 2021 book Shifting Food Facts (Routledge Press) examined the shifting food truths of contemporary dietary discourse and was featured in a webinar on CAFS YT: “The Many Truths of Food and Nutrition.” Their current work explores alternative food networks in Alberta.

Alissa currently serves on the Canadian Associate for Food Studies Board in the role of Membership Engagement.

https://youtu.be/Zm0iiYqoQ5I

#MeetTheBoard #AlternativeFoodNetworks #FoodStudies #CriticalFoodStudies #DietaryDiscourse #CAFS #Sociology #SocialTheory #IntersectionalFeminism #MediaAnalysis #DiscourseAnalysis

Are you exploring Alternative Food Networks? You should check out the work of Dr. Alissa Overend!

Alissa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at MacEwan University. Their 2021 book Shifting Food Facts (Routledge Press) examined the shifting food truths of contemporary dietary discourse and was featured in a webinar on CAFS YT: “The Many Truths of Food and Nutrition.” Their current work explores alternative food networks in Alberta.

Alissa currently serves on the Canadian Associate for Food Studies Board in the role of Membership Engagement.

https://youtu.be/Zm0iiYqoQ5I

#MeetTheBoard #AlternativeFoodNetworks #FoodStudies #CriticalFoodStudies #DietaryDiscourse #CAFS #Sociology #SocialTheory #IntersectionalFeminism #MediaAnalysis #DiscourseAnalysis

Are you exploring Alternative Food Networks? You should check out the work of Dr. Alissa Overend!

Alissa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at MacEwan University. Their 2021 book Shifting Food Facts (Routledge Press) examined the shifting food truths of contemporary dietary discourse and was featured in a webinar on CAFS YT: “The Many Truths of Food and Nutrition.” Their current work explores alternative food networks in Alberta.

Alissa currently serves on the Canadian Associate for Food Studies Board in the role of Membership Engagement.

https://youtu.be/Zm0iiYqoQ5I

#MeetTheBoard #AlternativeFoodNetworks #FoodStudies #CriticalFoodStudies #DietaryDiscourse #CAFS #Sociology #SocialTheory #IntersectionalFeminism #MediaAnalysis #DiscourseAnalysis

Are you exploring Alternative Food Networks? You should check out the work of Dr. Alissa Overend!

Alissa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at MacEwan University. Their 2021 book Shifting Food Facts (Routledge Press) examined the shifting food truths of contemporary dietary discourse and was featured in a webinar on CAFS YT: “The Many Truths of Food and Nutrition.” Their current work explores alternative food networks in Alberta.

Alissa currently serves on the Canadian Associate for Food Studies Board in the role of Membership Engagement.

https://youtu.be/Zm0iiYqoQ5I

#MeetTheBoard #AlternativeFoodNetworks #FoodStudies #CriticalFoodStudies #DietaryDiscourse #CAFS #Sociology #SocialTheory #IntersectionalFeminism #MediaAnalysis #DiscourseAnalysis

Public Lecture | Master MUSIC IN SOCIETY Lecture

CREATIVE WORK: FROM CRITIQUES OF ‘DIVERSITY’ TO ATTACKS ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
Rosalind Gill (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)
Correspondent: Christina Scharff (King’s College London, UK)

20 November 2025 | 18:00
mdw Campus
Banquet Haal

More info: 👉 https://www.mdw.ac.at/ims/events/lecture-creative-work

#creativework #culturalwork #diversity #equity #inclusion #musicsociology #musicinsociety #culturalsociology #culturaltheory #socialtheory #sociology #culturalstudies #genderstudies #socialsciences #humanities #inequality #inequalities #class #race #ethnicity #gender #feminist #queer #antiracist #music #art #film #television #fashion #architecture #design #mdw

Public Lecture | Master MUSIC IN SOCIETY Lecture

CREATIVE WORK: FROM CRITIQUES OF ‘DIVERSITY’ TO ATTACKS ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
Rosalind Gill (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)
Correspondent: Christina Scharff (King’s College London, UK)

20 November 2025 | 18:00
mdw Campus
Banquet Haal

More info: 👉 https://www.mdw.ac.at/ims/events/lecture-creative-work

#creativework #culturalwork #diversity #equity #inclusion #musicsociology #musicinsociety #culturalsociology #culturaltheory #socialtheory #sociology #culturalstudies #genderstudies #socialsciences #humanities #inequality #inequalities #class #race #ethnicity #gender #feminist #queer #antiracist #music #art #film #television #fashion #architecture #design #mdw

What is social reproduction? :marx: Here is my playlist for understandung the concept.
1. This is a woderfully succinct explanation, and manifesto towards the end, to which I say, yes comrade! :ablobcatrave:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apO3B_o6dz8

2. Marxism and social reproduction, Tithi Bhattachari on who creates the worker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uur-pMk7XjY

3. David Harvey discusses examples of how neo-liberalism affects social reproduction in current example from Sudan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWfbebdGTxQ

#SocialReproduction #Marxism #TithiBhattacharya #DavidHarvey #Feminism #SocialTheory

What is social reproduction? :marx: Here is my playlist for understandung the concept.
1. This is a woderfully succinct explanation, and manifesto towards the end, to which I say, yes comrade! :ablobcatrave:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apO3B_o6dz8

2. Marxism and social reproduction, Tithi Bhattachari on who creates the worker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uur-pMk7XjY

3. David Harvey discusses examples of how neo-liberalism affects social reproduction in current example from Sudan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWfbebdGTxQ

#SocialReproduction #Marxism #TithiBhattacharya #DavidHarvey #Feminism #SocialTheory

What is social reproduction? :marx: Here is my playlist for understandung the concept.
1. This is a woderfully succinct explanation, and manifesto towards the end, to which I say, yes comrade! :ablobcatrave:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apO3B_o6dz8

2. Marxism and social reproduction, Tithi Bhattachari on who creates the worker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uur-pMk7XjY

3. David Harvey discusses examples of how neo-liberalism affects social reproduction in current example from Sudan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWfbebdGTxQ

#SocialReproduction #Marxism #TithiBhattacharya #DavidHarvey #Feminism #SocialTheory

What is social reproduction? :marx: Here is my playlist for understandung the concept.
1. This is a woderfully succinct explanation, and manifesto towards the end, to which I say, yes comrade! :ablobcatrave:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apO3B_o6dz8

2. Marxism and social reproduction, Tithi Bhattachari on who creates the worker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uur-pMk7XjY

3. David Harvey discusses examples of how neo-liberalism affects social reproduction in current example from Sudan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWfbebdGTxQ

#SocialReproduction #Marxism #TithiBhattacharya #DavidHarvey #Feminism #SocialTheory

What is social reproduction? :marx: Here is my playlist for understandung the concept.
1. This is a woderfully succinct explanation, and manifesto towards the end, to which I say, yes comrade! :ablobcatrave:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apO3B_o6dz8

2. Marxism and social reproduction, Tithi Bhattachari on who creates the worker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uur-pMk7XjY

3. David Harvey discusses examples of how neo-liberalism affects social reproduction in current example from Sudan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWfbebdGTxQ

#SocialReproduction #Marxism #TithiBhattacharya #DavidHarvey #Feminism #SocialTheory

A concise, generalizable model of #power #sociology #socialtheory #statepower https://open.substack.com/pub/madsociologist/p/on-power?r=d8c86&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

A concise, generalizable model of #power #sociology #socialtheory #statepower https://open.substack.com/pub/madsociologist/p/on-power?r=d8c86&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

A concise, generalizable model of #power #sociology #socialtheory #statepower https://open.substack.com/pub/madsociologist/p/on-power?r=d8c86&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

A concise, generalizable model of #power #sociology #socialtheory #statepower https://open.substack.com/pub/madsociologist/p/on-power?r=d8c86&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

🧵 1/5
A few weeks ago, I picked up Theodor Adorno's "Minima Moralia", started it, but was then distracted, and so put it aside.

Being distracted from Adorno is easily explicable, as I don't think even his admirers would describe him as an easy read.

Nevertheless, I have struggled through some Adorno before, so I went back to "Minima Moralia" more recently and read the collected essays and aphorisms from cover to cover.

I am aware, of course, that were Adorno to be alive today, he would point to my beliefs and preoccupations as evidence of the "damaged life" he describes and deplores. For critical theorists, my reformist social democracy, my belief in the possibility of a science of society, and the joy I take in Richard Strauss, Jean Sibelius, and Kpop are all signs of a pitiful enslavement to a naive positivism and the kitsch culture of capitalism.

Nevertheless, I found "Minima Moralia" rewarding, if at times frustrating, reading. I read the Verso edition; I have heard criticisms of older translations of Adorno, of which this is one, it having been first published in 1974 by New Left Books. In this thread, I'm going to link to a newer translation by Dennis Redmond.

Overall, Adorno puts forward a number of arguments about culture, intellectuals, and commodification under capitalism. For many years from the mid seventies onwards, he was regarded a grouchy elitist whose high modernist cultural critique could, in the light of Birmingham School cultural studies, be seen as at best guilty of a simplistic, uninformed by Gramsci, and demobilisingly moralistic approach to popular culture and at worst of a marxisant high toryism.

These criticisms are not without foundation. Reading "Minima Moralia" can be at times the trying experience of being subjected to page upon page of western marxist curmudgeonry.

Yet some of thoughts on the culture of capitalism struck me as meriting my renewed consideration, even though....

https://www.versobooks.com/products/1035-minima-moralia?srsltid=AfmBOoqFv94K1G91IPlOuAP1ZbMfVnqa-PjpM5dR3FFq2tleYY0p-viE

#TheodorAdorno #MinimaMoralia #CriticalTheory #CulturalCritique #CulturalStudies #Marxism #FrankfurtSchool #Adorno #Philosophy #SocialTheory

Archaeoethnologica: Social Evolution & History Nº 24/1 - 2025

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/05/social-evolution-history-n-241-2025.html

#Anthropology #Evolution #socialevolution #politicalanthropology #canibalism #State #Medieval #politics #politogenesis #religion #socialtheory #comparatism #journals #openaccess

Archaeoethnologica: Social Evolution & History Nº 24/1 - 2025

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/05/social-evolution-history-n-241-2025.html

#Anthropology #Evolution #socialevolution #politicalanthropology #canibalism #State #Medieval #politics #politogenesis #religion #socialtheory #comparatism #journals #openaccess

Archaeoethnologica: Social Evolution & History Nº 24/1 - 2025

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/05/social-evolution-history-n-241-2025.html

#Anthropology #Evolution #socialevolution #politicalanthropology #canibalism #State #Medieval #politics #politogenesis #religion #socialtheory #comparatism #journals #openaccess

Archaeoethnologica: Social Evolution & History Nº 24/1 - 2025

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/05/social-evolution-history-n-241-2025.html

#Anthropology #Evolution #socialevolution #politicalanthropology #canibalism #State #Medieval #politics #politogenesis #religion #socialtheory #comparatism #journals #openaccess

Archaeoethnologica: Social Evolution & History Nº 24/1 - 2025

+INFO in: https://archaeoethnologica.blogspot.com/2025/05/social-evolution-history-n-241-2025.html

#Anthropology #Evolution #socialevolution #politicalanthropology #canibalism #State #Medieval #politics #politogenesis #religion #socialtheory #comparatism #journals #openaccess