Political Science Commons^™

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.

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 …

Margaret Fuller: Feminist Theory Years Ahead Of Its Time, Charles Lemert

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Modularity, Labor, And Ideology In Edtech Platforms, Mario Khreiche

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Learning Management Systems As Anti-Convivial Tools, Edward Maclin

Fast Capitalism

The last two decades have seen an increase in the number of online university classes operating under any of several commercial Learning Management Systems (LMS). Online classes expanded dramatically in the US during 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students, faculty, and administrators frequently assume that LMSs are epistemologically neutral. These LMSs are designed to do exactly what they say on the tin: they are systems for managing learning. At the same time, they function based on implicit understandings of "learning," "management," and "systems" that privilege some knowledges, interactions, and discourses while de-emphasizing others. In this paper I …