New Books in Critical Theory

Explore real stories of economic precarity in 'Going for Broke', featuring essays by essential workers, military veterans, and others. Uncover the impact of income inequality on bodies, minds, and families, with introductions by influential voices. Dive into themes of labor reporting, pet ownership challenges, class disparities, and personal narratives of financial struggles.

Exploring the intertwining of land claims and weather data collection from early 19th century to Hurricane Sandy, highlighting the struggle between standardization and the unique relationship with land. Discusses the formation of a world within settler colonial context through meteorological data efforts and the significance of weather data in shaping environmental knowledge. Delve into the complexities of crisis and solutions narratives in the Dust Bowl era, emphasizing the shift to aerial viewpoints post-Dust Bowl and the importance of meteorological data in understanding climate systems from above. Explore how meteorological data collection was influenced by patriarchal and colonial structures, discussing the implications of taking a more localized approach post-Dust Bowl. Discover the challenges faced by white women in early Smithsonian meteorological projects compared to their male counterparts, addressing the harmful systems upheld by white women and the complexities of historical data collection in the context of indigenous land theft.

Explore the inclusive approach to teaching music history, incorporating diverse perspectives and composers in the syllabus. Learn about the collaborative effort behind a thematic music history resource, emphasizing composers and key issues. Discover innovative approaches in music history education, integrating music theory, cultural considerations, and diverse perspectives to enhance students' understanding.

Explore the influence of authenticity on consumer habits, urban development, and the resurgence of craft industries in late modern capitalism. Delve into the complexities of the hipster economy and its impact on various industries. Uncover the challenges faced in 2023 and the potential for positive change in 2024. Analyze the historical roots of the hipster aesthetic and its parallels with past movements. Discuss the intersection of aesthetics, values, and content integrity in the digital realm.

Yanis Varoufakis discusses how capitalism is dead, replaced by big tech's control in technofeudalism. He explores the shift from markets to platforms, the power of cloud capitalism, and strategies for combating techno feudalism. The podcast also touches on a documentary project, politics, and therapeutic writing.

Exploring the influence of the Vietnam War on contemporary race and beauty ideas, focusing on skin as the site of formation. Discusses the US Military Dermatology Research Program's efforts to alleviate skin risks for white soldiers while neglecting African American soldiers. Highlights the development of pharmaceutical cosmetics and beauty practices in Ho Chi Minh City. Shows how the intersecting histories of militarism, biomedicine, race, and aesthetics become visible on skin.

In the first half of the twentieth century, Black hemispheric culture grappled with the legacies of colonialism, U.S. empire, and Jim Crow. As writers and performers sought to convey the terror and the beauty of Black life under oppressive conditions, they increasingly turned to the labor, movement, speech, sound, and ritual of everyday “folk.” Many critics have perceived these representations of folk culture as efforts to reclaim an authentic past. Imani D. Owens recasts Black creators’ relationship to folk culture, emphasizing their formal and stylistic innovations and experiments in self-invention that reach beyond the local to the world.Turn the World Upside Down: Empire and Unruly Forms of Black Folk Culture in the U.S. and Caribbean (Columbia UP, 2023) explores how Black writers and performers reimagined folk forms through the lens of the unruly―that which cannot be easily governed, disciplined, or managed. Drawing on a transnational and multilingual archive―from Harlem to Havana, from the Panama Canal Zone to Port-au-Prince―Owens considers the short stories of Eric Walrond and Jean Toomer; the ethnographies of Zora Neale Hurston and Jean Price-Mars; the recited poetry of Langston Hughes, Nicolás Guillén, and Eusebia Cosme; and the essays, dance work, and radio plays of Sylvia Wynter. Owens shows how these figures depict folk culture―and Blackness itself―as a site of disruption, ambiguity, and flux. Their works reveal how Black people contribute to the stirrings of modernity while being excluded from its promises. Ultimately, these works do not seek to render folk culture more knowable or worthy of assimilation, but instead provide new forms of radical world-making.Omari Averette-Phillips is a doctoral student in the Department of History at UC Davis. He can be reached at omariaverette@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

Delving into the connection between law, wealth creation, and inequality, the podcast explores the role of lawyers in shaping legal systems. It discusses the coding of capital through legal modules and asset classes, the intricate web of financial entities like Lehman Brothers, and Minsky's financial theories. Additionally, it delves into intellectual property rights in genetics, the legal architecture of global capitalism, and book recommendations for understanding wealth creation and inequality.

Professor Neil Lee, from the London School of Economics, challenges the idea that innovation leads to inequality. He discusses how countries like Switzerland, Austria, Taiwan, and Sweden have fostered innovation while promoting shared prosperity. The podcast explores the relationship between innovation and job creation, debunking fears of widespread unemployment. It also delves into the unique approaches of various countries in balancing innovation and income equality, highlighting the importance of institutions in distributing innovation gains equitably.

Todd McGowan discusses the relevance of Hegel's dialectical method to contemporary theory and politics, highlighting the subversive nature of contradiction. He challenges the familiar thesis-antithesis-synthesis schema and emphasizes the importance of prioritizing contradiction over 'difference'. McGowan combines philosophical discussions with playful references to films like Casablanca and Bridge on the River Kwai.