Digital Commons Network^™

The Yugoslav Wars As The Primordial Accumulation Of Capital, Mirt Komel

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Researching Slovenian Media In Transition: Situating Knowledge, Jurij Smrke

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Intoxicated With Raison D'Etat, Anej Korsika

Fast Capitalism

Advocates of mercantilism, economic doctrine that dominated Western Europe from 16th to late 18th century, argued that positive balance of trade is of quintessential importance for any successful economic policy. Prime responsibility of every state was thus taking care of imports never exceeding exports. From such a perspective trade was not something beneficial (as proponents of laissez-faire economy, namely Adam Smith, would later on argue) but rather a zero-sum game. Instead of cooperation, states had to compete with one another. Because there wasn’t any common denominator that could prove to be of mutual interest, the natural state of affairs between …

There's Chemistry Between Us: European Transition To Transition, Anže Dolinar

Fast Capitalism

Transition state of a chemical reaction is a particular configuration along the reaction coordinate. In chemistry this state is characterized by a specific property of irreversibility and corresponds to the highest energy level along a certain reaction coordinate. One of the qualities of transition state is its indetermination. In other words, we do not know what really goes on in that state, all we have are approximations.

What concerns me here is the transition state of nation states as a specific configuration corresponding to this chemical analogy. If this analogy holds true two equally important consequences will inevitably follow. Firstly, …

About The Authors, Fast Capitalism Editorial Team

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, Fast Capitalism Editorial Team

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Full Issue: Volume 7, Issue 1, Editorial Board

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

The first issue in the seventh volume of the Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal.

Colonial Whaling In Walvis Bay And In Southern Africa: Environmental Exploitation And Legacy Of South Africa’S Cetaceans, Jake L. Zarak

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This paper examines the colonial whaling industry in Southern Africa, with a focus on Walvis Bay, tracing its long term environmental and socio-economic impacts. From the 1700s to the 1900s, whaling operations, primarily led by American, British, and French enterprises, exploited the region’s rich populations of sperm and right whales, drastically reducing their numbers. The study contextualizes whaling within a broader colonial framework, analyzing its effects on whale migratory patterns, indigenous communities, and marine ecosystems. It explores as well, the transition from whaling as an economic endeavor to modern conservation efforts and the romanticization of whales in literature and art. …

Cho, Not Che?: Positioning Blacksburg In The Political, Ben Agger

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Baudrillard (1929-2007) & Mao: A History Of Normal Violence, Charles Lemert

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Media Spectacle And The "Massacre At Virginia Tech", Douglas Kellner

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Satire, Guns, And Humans: Lessons From The Nacirema, Steve Kroll-Smith, Gwen Hunnicutt

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

A Hokies' Lament: American Social Psychosis And The Virginia Tech Killings, Stephen Pfohl

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

All The Rage: Digital Bodies And Deadly Play In The Age Of The Suicide Bomber, Carolyn Guertin

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Mediated Ritual On Academic Ground, Neal King

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

To: Multiple Recipients: "There Is A Gunman On Campus...", Timothy W. Luke

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

About The Authors, Fast Capitalism Editorial Team

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, Fast Capitalism Editorial Team

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Henry David Thoreau: The Beginnings Of Fast Capitalism, Charles Lemert

Fast Capitalism

Author Biography

Charles Lemert, Wesley University Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Wesleyan University

Risk, Return To Industry, And The Future Of Democracy, Lukas Szrot

Fast Capitalism

Reflecting on 2020, I consider the possibility of the collapse of the United States, as well as the ways in which it has fallen short of representative and democratic promise. I argue that the spread of conspiratorial reason is symptomatic of the mistrust that has arisen from these failures. Drawing on naturalist, critical theory, and sociology of knowledge accounts of conspiratorial reason, I argue that such thinking is interest-bound, weaponizing mistrust, and is broadly appealing but ultimately disempowering, serving the ends of failed praxis and reification of power. I examine two possible sources of institutionalized mistrust: the "culture wars" thesis …

The Plague Of White Supremacy In The Age Of Fascist Politics, Henry Giroux

Fast Capitalism

The toxic thrust of white supremacy runs through American culture like an electric current. Without apology,Jim Crow is back suffocating American society in a wave of voter suppression laws, ongoing attempts by rightwing politicians to implement a form of apartheid pedagogy, and the resurgence of a right-wing cultural politics organized around the legacy of white nationalism and white supremacy. The emergence of white supremacy to the centers of power is also evident in the reign of police violence against Black people that came into full view with the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer and the ensuring …

Make Women Great Again: Women, Misogyny And Anti-Capitalism On The Right, Catherine Tebaldi

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

A Prelude To Insurrection: How A 4chan Refrain Anticipated The Capitol Riot, Marc Tuters

Fast Capitalism

This paper looks at how vernacular practices associated with fringe web communities seem to have found their way into reactionary American politics in recent years. Combining concepts from political communication (Bennett and Segerberg 2013) and from assemblage theory (Samson 2020), the paper looks at how key elements of the Capitol insurrection narrative initially emerged on 4chan as meme about a second civil war (called "the Boogaloo"), then spreading to social media and amplified by President Trump. In an effort to make sense of this relationship between the fringe the mainstream, the paper offers both original empirical analysis as well as …

Beyond Prepper Culture As Right-Wing Extremism: Selling Preparedness To Everyday Consumers As How To Survive The End Of The World On A Budget, Timothy W. Luke

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Homoterrorism: Definition, Application, Subversion, Angelos Bollas

Fast Capitalism

On Friday, September 21, 2018, news reports on Greek corporate media announced the death of a man who had allegedly attempted to rob a jewellery store. The media announcement was accompanied by video footage in which two civilians were shown violently attacking the alleged thief while the latter was attempting to escape the jewellery store. A little later, the alleged thief was announced dead. This is the case of Zak Kostopoulos who was lynched in his attempt to escape a jewellery shop where he had found shelter from a threat that, to this day, remains unknown. Zak was lynched literally …

The Rise Of The Robots: Technocapitalism And The Policing Of Race, Constantine Gidaris

Fast Capitalism

This article critically engages with the emergence of police robots in the United States, arguing that their inevitable foray into everyday policing will fuel existing issues of racial discrimination. Building on Luis Suarez-Villa's (2009) conceptualization of technocapitalism, I situate police robots within a framework of social domination that thrives not only on its connections to corporatism and militarism, but also on technocapitalist conditions that invariably exacerbate the oppressive dynamics of racist and discriminatory policing. Although police robots will make police work safer for officers (Sharkey 2008), I contend that they will be used by the police as weaponized machines of …

Precarious Labor In Covid Times: The Case Of Musicians, David M. Arditi

Fast Capitalism

The coronavirus pandemic changed the way we think about work, the economy, and our everyday lives as governments shutdown all but the most essential public spaces. Workers who earn a living through precarious employment have faced unique barriers to securing wages. The impact of the pandemic shutdown was especially devastating on musicians' lives and many supporting workers in the entertainment industry. The structural insecurity of gig work became amplified as venues were forced to stop performances for a year or more. In this paper, I argue the current phase of capitalism that depends on precarious labor and unending consumption destroys …

The Academic Precariat Post-Covid-19, Aidan Cornelius-Bell, Piper A. Bell

Fast Capitalism

The nature of work has changed, in accelerated late-capitalism and as a result of the COVID-19 global health crisis. For academics, casualised and precarious, the sweeping institutional changes of contemporary neoliberal universities, the sharp rise in managerialism, and the political power plays of universities have created further untenable spaces for work and study. In this article we explore the relationship between doctoral studies, precarious academic employment, the pandemic, and the disproportionate effects of the changes in higher education on women. Through exploration of personal experience, as precarious academic workers, researchers, and doctoral students, we provide parallels to research literature across …

About The Authors, Fast Capitalism Editorial Team

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Fast Capitalism Editorial Team

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.