New Books in Critical Theory

Jafari S. Allen, author of 'There's a Disco Ball Between Us: A Theory of Black Gay Life,' discusses Black gay habits of mind, tracing the genealogies of Black gay politics in art, poetry, film, and activism. He renarrates Black queer history, cultivating a Black gay method of thinking and writing, while emphasizing the importance of acknowledging and celebrating Black gay lives.

Rev. James M. Lawson Jr., a prominent practitioner of nonviolence, discusses the philosophy and power of nonviolent organizing. The podcast explores the challenges faced by advocates of nonviolence, the role of faith communities in social and economic justice, and future plans for promoting nonviolent campaigns, including a nonviolence curriculum for high school students.

Explore the power of literature in times of crisis, including the triple pandemic of COVID-19, climate change, and global fascism. Discover theopoetics as a reading strategy that connects literature to the divine, and its intersection with queer theory and decolonial studies. Learn about the importance of inclusivity, autotheory, and developing a relational ethic through personal experiences. Delve into the relationship between Mennonite literature and theology, and the existential crisis within the field. Reflect on the political potential of literature and the impact of theopoetic reading experiences.

Scholar Bernard Forjwuor challenges the conflation of political decolonization and political independence in their book. They argue that political independence is insufficiently decolonial and discuss the reconstitution of colonialism in different forms. The podcast explores topics such as the relationship between democracy and financial institutions in Ghana, the UN resolutions on self-determination and colonialism, the exploitative structure of colonialism, and the concept of critique for freedom and world-making.

Natasha Roth-Rowland, Lori Allen, and Ajantha Subramanian discuss the Jewish far right's transnational formation, their influence on Israeli politics, and shared ideologies of racial supremacy and territorial maximalism. They delve into violence, anti-Palestinian vigilantism, and the role of women in far-right movements. The podcast also explores the terms fascism, radical right, and populism in Indian and Israeli ethnonationalism, and the rise of fascism in Zionism.

Dr. Russell T. McCutchen discusses his book 'Critics Not Caretakers: Redescribing the Public Study of Religion' and challenges traditional scholarship in the study of religion. He emphasizes critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and engaging with the public. The importance of religious studies in higher education and adapting graduate education in the humanities are also explored. The conversation wraps up by reflecting on the relevance of old challenges in the study of religion.

The police response to protests erupting on America's streets in recent years has made the militarization of policing painfully transparent. Yet, properly demilitarizing the police requires a deeper understanding of its historical development, causes, and social logics. Policing Empires: Militarization, Race, and the Imperial Boomerang in Britain and the US (Oxford UP, 2023) offers a postcolonial historical sociology of police militarization in Britain and the United States to aid that effort. Julian Go tracks when, why, and how British and US police departments have adopted military tactics, tools, and technologies for domestic use. Go reveals that police militarization has occurred since the very founding of modern policing in the nineteenth century into the present, and that it is an effect of the "imperial boomerang." Policing Empires thereby unlocks the dirty secret of police militarization: Police have brought imperial practices home to militarize themselves in response to perceived racialized threats from minority and immigrant populations.Jeffrey Lamson is a PhD student in world history at Northeastern University. His research focuses on the history of police technology, its relationship to the history of police reform, and its place at the intersection of U.S. domestic policing and global counterinsurgency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

Regina Lee Blaszczyk and David Suisman discuss their book, Capitalism and the Senses, exploring how capitalism has impacted sensory experiences. They focus on topics such as the manipulation of taste in the food industry and the engineering of artificial fabrics. The podcast highlights the resistance of the senses to market control and establishes their importance in the history of capitalism. Additionally, they explore the role of whiskey consumption in male sociality and masculinity during the 1950s and the failure of supersonic aviation in the US. The marketing strategy implemented by Hilton hotels for female consumers is also discussed, along with the history of music in the US military.

Mark Munsterhjelm, an expert in forensic genetics, explores the controversial studies of Indigenous Peoples and the development of forensic genetic technologies. He discusses the capture of Indigenous Peoples' genetic material and the ongoing genetic servitude. Munsterhjelm highlights the controversial Human Genome Diversity Project and its impact on Indigenous Peoples' rights. He also delves into the connection between genetics and intelligence in the context of the War on Terror. The podcast concludes with a discussion on current research projects and ethical concerns in forensic genetics.

In this podcast, Tom Özden-Schilling, author of The Ends of Research: Indigenous and Settler Science After the War in the Woods, discusses the lasting investments and struggles of researchers post-War of the Woods. He explores the use of planning documents, Indigenous territory maps, and land use plots. The podcast also highlights the complex relationships between researchers and rural histories of conservation, environmental conflict, and resource extraction.