New Books in Critical Theory

Interviews with Scholars of Critical Theory about their New Books

Science
Social Sciences
1576
Sean Molloy, “Kant’s International Relations: T...
What does Kant have to tell us about International Relations? In Kant’s International Relations: The Political Theology of Perpetual Peace (University of Michigan Press, 2017), Sean Molloy, a Reader in International Relations at the University of Kent,...
46 min
1577
Larisa Jašarević, “Health and Wealth on the Bos...
In her new book, Health and Wealth on the Bosnian Market: Intimate Debt (Indiana University Press, 2017), Larisa Jašarević traces the odd entanglements between the body and the economy in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the new post-war, post-socialist market,
56 min
1578
Yves Citton, “The Ecology of Attention” (Polity...
We are arguably living in the midst of a form of economy where attention has become a key resource and value, labor, class, and currency are being reconfigured as a result. But how is this happening, what are the consequences,
68 min
1579
The Invisible Committee, “Now” (Semiotext(e), 2...
What could the communism of the future be? In Now  (Semiotext(e), 2017), The Invisible Committee explores our current crisis by thinking through key critical theory questions, along with specific interventions on French and global politics.
55 min
1580
Simone Wesner, “Artists’ Voices in Cultural Pol...
Why is the artist’s voice missing from cultural policy? In Artists’ Voices in Cultural Policy: Careers, Myths and the Creative Profession after German Unification (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), Dr. Simone Wesner,
43 min
1581
Martin Shuster, “New Television: The Aesthetics...
How should we understand our new golden age of television? In New Television: The Aesthetics and Politics of a Genre (University of Chicago Press, 2017), Martin Shuster, Director of Judaic Studies and Assistant Professor at Goucher College,
52 min
1582
Ari Heinrich, “Chinese Surplus: Biopolitical Ae...
Ari Larissa Heinrich’s new book, Chinese Surplus: Biopolitical Aesthetics and the Medically Commodified Body (Duke University Press, 2018), is a fascinating study of representations of the Chinese body in the context of biotechnology.
45 min
1583
Noreen Giffney and Eve Watson, “Clinical Encoun...
Psychoanalysis is a queer theory. That’s what Tim Dean said, according to Eve Watson in the afterword to Clinical Encounters in Sexuality: Psychoanalytic Practice and Queer Theory (Punctum Books, 2017), a new book that she co-edited with Noreen Giffney...
51 min
1584
James M. Jasper, “The Emotions of Protests” (U ...
How do emotions affect participation in protests, and in politics more generally? In The Emotions of Protests (University of Chicago Press, 2018), James M. Jasper develops a solid critique to approaches that present political action as strictly rationa...
65 min
1585
Paula Serafini, “Performance Action: The Politi...
How can art change the world? In Performance Action: The Politics of Art Activism (Routledge, 2018), Paula Serafini, a Research Associate at the University of Leicester’s CAMEo Research Institute for Cultural and Media Economies,
37 min
1586
Hongwei Bao, “Queer Comrades: Gay Identity and ...
Hongwei Bao’s book is a thoughtful exploration of gay identity and queer activism in China. This work stems from the term and identity tongzhi, which means “comrade” and in more recent decades has been a popular term to refer to gay people and sexual m...
44 min
1587
Rob Sullivan, “The Geography of the Everyday: T...
How to theorize what goes without saying? In The Geography of the Everyday: Toward an Understanding of the Given (University of Georgia Press, 2017), Rob Sullivan develops a general theory of everydayness as the necessary, if elusive,
52 min
1588
Ignacio Aguiló, “The Darkening Nation: Race, Ne...
In The Darkening Nation: Race, Neoliberalism, and Crisis in Argentina (University of Wales Press, 2018), Ignacio Aguiló studies the sociocultural impact caused by the failure of the IMF economic measures in Argentina of 2001-2002.
58 min
1589
Aaron Kuntz, “The Responsible Methodologist: In...
In this episode, I speak with Aaron M. Kuntz about his book, The Responsible Methodologist: Inquiry, Truth-Telling, and Social Justice (Left Coast Press, 2015). This book offers a thorough and much-needed interrogation of the role of research methodolo...
63 min
1590
Bruno Chaouat, “Is Theory Good for the Jews?: F...
“Is Theory Good for the Jews?” asks author Bruno Chaouat, professor of French at the University of Minnesota, in Is Theory Good for the Jews?: French Thought and the Challenge of the New Antisemitism (Liverpool University Press, 2017) .
70 min
1591
Kyla Schuller, “The Biopolitics of Feeling: Rac...
Beginning with a discussion about Black Lives Matter may seem like an unlikely place to start a book about nineteenth century science and culture. However, by contrasting Black lives with White feelings, Kyla Schuller sets up the central conflict of he...
56 min
1592
Christina Scharff, “Gender, Subjectivity, and C...
What sort of inequalities characterize classical music today? In Gender, Subjectivity, and Cultural Work: The Classical Music Profession (Routledge, 2018), Christina Scharff, a senior lecturer in culture, media and creative industries in the department...
33 min
1593
Dieter Vandebroeck, “Distinctions in the Flesh:...
How is class inequality intertwined with the body? In Distinctions in the Flesh: Social Class and the Embodiment of Inequality (Routledge, 2017),  Dieter Vandebroeck, an assistant professor in sociology at the Free University of Brussels,
42 min
1594
Mark Rifkin, “Beyond Settler Time: Temporal Sov...
Mark Rifkin’s Beyond Settler Time: Temporal Sovereignty and Indigenous Self-Determination (Duke University Press, 2017) engages fields including physics, phenomenology, native storytelling, and queer temporality.
50 min
1595
Sarah Schulman, “Conflict is Not Abuse: Oversta...
Sarah Schulman’s Conflict is Not Abuse: Overstating Harm, Community Responsibility, and the Duty of Repair (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2016) examines how accusations of harm are appropriated and deployed by powerful people, groups,
60 min
1596
Leah Bassel and Akwugo Emejulu, “Minority Women...
What is the impact of austerity on minority women? How has this impacted on already long standing forms of social inequality across England, France and Scotland? These questions are the subject of Minority Women and Austerity: Survival and Resistance i...
39 min
1597
Aimi Hamraie, “Building Access: Universal Desig...
The Americans with Disability Act passed in 1990, but it was just one moment in ongoing efforts to craft the meaning and practice of “good design” that put people with disabilities at the center. In their new book,
42 min
1598
Sigrid Schmalzer, et. al., “Science for the Peo...
“What is needed now is not liberal reform or withdrawal, but a radical attack, a strategy of opposition. Scientific workers must develop ways to put their skills at the service of the people and against the oppressors.” (Zimmerman, et al. 1972).
57 min
1599
Anamik Saha, “Race and the Cultural Industries”...
How do the media make race? This question is at the heart of Race and the Cultural Industries (Polity, 2018), the new book by Anamik Saha, Lecturer in Media, Communications and Promotion at Goldsmiths, University of London.
47 min
1600
Stephen Monteiro, “The Fabric of Interface: Mob...
Sewing, knitting, quilting, the crafts related to fabric making, are usually not what we think about when we consider our digital communications devices. Yet, many of the activities that we find ourselves doing with our devices touching the screen,
26 min