IV - DEMEDIATIZATION “Because of the demediatization of communication, journalists - elite ‘opinion makers,’indeed, the erstwhile priests of opinion - now seem increasingly anachronistic and superflous. The digital medium is in the course of abolishing an end to the era of representation. Instead, everyone wants to be present personally and directly - to present his … Continue reading Critique of Swarm – Part 4
Author: nothisispat
Critique of Swarm – Part 3
III. IN THE SWARM Part 1; Part 2 "Hardt and Negri base their theory on historically antiquated categories such as class and class struggle. Accordingly, they define multitude as being capable of communal action […] It is meaningful to speak of class only when a plurality of classes exists. 'Multitude,' however, signifies the sole class. All … Continue reading Critique of Swarm – Part 3
Critique of Swarm – Part 2
"The outraged do not form a stable we who are displaying concern for society as a whole. Enraged citizens, even though they are citizens, do not demonstrate concern for the whole of social body so much as for themselves. For this reason, outrage quickly dissipates." (7) Is the essence of political structure in liberal society … Continue reading Critique of Swarm – Part 2
Critique of Swarm – Part 1
The following is a first part of a critique of Byung-Chul Han's In the Swarm. This will respond to the first chapter. I. NO RESPECT "Respect presupposes a distanced look - the pathos of distance. Today, it is yielding to the obtrusive staring of spectacle…. A society without respect, without the pathos of distance, paves … Continue reading Critique of Swarm – Part 1
Totalitarianism as a Material Fear
Material interest includes more general needs (food, water, shelter) but is also always particular and has integrated particular desires and forms of needs (not just food proper, people conceive of food in particular). Material fears are their fears that come from social situations and the material conditions. Many people have a general fear of invasive control into their personal lives. The particular form of that fear is contingent on what could enable that. The (Western) totalitarian fear as it exists today involves fears that are particularized through the relationship to mass media, surveillance, and the party-centered nation-state.
Notes from the Night Shift
Self-Portrait at Work On my first day at work, after my lunch break at 2:00am, I am locked out of the library where I am assigned to be trained. The radio I have been given doesn't work, but I am soon found by F____ who I am shadowing. F_____ is older, he has long grey … Continue reading Notes from the Night Shift
Rabelais – A Poem
*** Leap across this frothing world Where dirt is the foundation of all things And roots grow through all things And wine should heal all things And laughter pierce all things We are listing, like ships or almanacs Cups overflow, spilling a human reflection Speckled with lightbulbs Where our own sight … Continue reading Rabelais – A Poem
