Though a growing number of voices in public discourse are expressing reservations about the new space race and its implications, inherently political questions have remained largely untouched by political theorists: Who is space for and for whose benefit? What are the ideological presumptions and functions of private space exploration? To confront this astro-aporia, we proceed in four parts. First, we develop a typology of two broad positions that predominate in contemporary criticism of space exploration: those who are “space pessimists” and (...) those who are “space neutral”; second, we critique those two positions for relying on an instrumental rationality that cedes too much ground to the logic of instrumentalizing and exploiting that which is deemed non-human nature; third, we examine the linked material and ideological forces fueling the current space race and its enthusiastic supporters; and finally, we formulate a dialectical position that remains critical of space exploitation as it is currently undertaken, but on grounds other than mere utility, thus offering a way to reorient the discussion toward a critical theory of space. From this perspective, space's meaning-making role for humanity can be understood as good and should be held in common, rather than being either abandoned or plundered. (shrink)

Every day, Victoria Skillane wakes up bewildered. She has no idea where she is, but nevertheless has to run for her life from masked assailants while zombielike onlookers refuse to intervene. We later learn that she's the centerpiece of ‘White Bear Justice Park.’ The question is, what about this could be called just? In this chapter, we look to different theories of punishment in order to discern whether or not Victoria's punishment is justified. Does she deserve it? Does her sentence (...) deter people? Beyond these questions, we confront the most unsettling question raised by this episode of Black Mirror: why do people enjoy watching her suffer so much? (shrink)

This book explores the intersections between Herbert Marcuse's critical theory and Africana and Caribbean theory, revealing the potential for a dynamic interplay of ideas to understand and address contemporary social, political, and ecological challenges amid material, historical realities.

Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979) was as a leading figure of 1960s counter-culture and hailed as a 'Guru of the New Left'. His ideas and theories, inspired by a rich fusion of Marxian and Freudian thought, exert a strong influence on contemporary thinking about activism, emancipation and political resistance. He was also member of the Frankfurt School and a student of Heidegger in the late 1920s and engaged deeply with philosophy throughout his career. The Marcusean Mind is an outstanding survey and assessment (...) of Marcuse's thought. Beginning with a thorough introduction to Marcuse's life and work, thirty-nine chapters by an international and interdisciplinary team of contributors are organised into five clear parts: Intellectual Ecosystems of Marcuse Reason and Sensibilities Futures and Utopias Contemporary Movements Counterrevolutions, Neo-Liberalism, and Fascism. These sections each contain a short introduction, after which Marcusean ideas are brought to bear on many key contemporary debates and issues from across the humanities, social sciences, and science and technology. Including a Foreword by. (shrink)

Only recently has Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality begun to be read as a genealogy rather than a variation on the social contract tradition. This article argues that reading Rousseau as a genealogist not only clarifies his analysis of amour-propre’s inflammation, but also illuminates a conception of freedom achieved through the continuous political practice of shaping of amour-propre. In the first section of this article, I situate this conception of freedom against two separate but relevant bodies of Rousseau scholarship: those (...) who read him as a genealogist, and those who emphasize the ambiguities of amour-propre. Next, I look to The Social Contract’s passages on censorship and court of honor in order to evaluate their roles as institutions that forestall the inflammation of amour-propre. Finally, I examine the social institutions that citizens actively participate in as they practice their freedom: the festivals, dances, balls and games described in The Letter to D’Alembert and Considerations on the Government of Poland. It is in these institutions that we see the political implications of Rousseau’s genealogical system manifest: because his genealogy illuminates the human tendency toward vice, the cultivation of virtuous citizenship appears as a constant struggle rather than an idealist achievement. (shrink)

Adorno and Horkheimer’s legacy is incomplete without reference to their infamous political quietism. To thinkers such as Habermas, this was the unfortunate consequence of their alleged evacuation of reason. Attending to the treatment of Nietzsche in Dialectic of Enlightenment illuminates the distinct irony of such charges. Here, in their most popular book, Nietzsche is presented as precisely that which they praised him for warning against elsewhere: an advocate of cruelty animated by a reactionary morality. I contend that this exaggeration is (...) not accidental, but rather illustrative; the authors present a consciously hyperbolized version of Nietzsche in order to articulate how he made possible his own misappropriation, and to distinguish themselves sharply from Nietzsche given their disagreements about the necessity of reason. Ultimately, however, even though Adorno and Horkheimer performatively differentiate themselves from the nihilism they saw in Nietzsche, their alternative would ironically be subject to precisely the same charges of irrationalism and political aporia that they sought so desperately to avoid. (shrink)

The story of The Expanse is inseparable from the Inners’ oppression of the Belters. This chapter focuses on the relationship between the Inners and the Belt. It provides insight into the colonial relationship between them. Emphasizing the colonial relationship between the Inners and the Belt gives us insight into why attempts to forge a peaceful alliance between Earth, Mars, and the Belt fail time and time again. If we understand the Belt's attack as transcending mere bloodthirst and demolishing the unquestioned (...) colonial system that denies their very humanity, the case for anti‐colonial violence becomes much more compelling. Marco's vision of the future, in which Earth and Mars keep to their planets and a self‐determining Belt can finally live free of persecution, is juxtaposed against Avasarala's vision of peace in Luna Station. (shrink)