Caleb Ward
@calebw.bsky.social
Social and political philosophy, feminism, social change
The Unflinching Philosophy of Audre Lorde
Postdoc at Uni Hamburg
Photo by Frank Ward, 1999
https://www.calebward.xyz/
The Unflinching Philosophy of Audre Lorde
Postdoc at Uni Hamburg
Photo by Frank Ward, 1999
https://www.calebward.xyz/
Pinned
Caleb Ward
@calebw.bsky.social
· Sep 4
Using and Abusing ‘The Master’s Tools’ Caleb Ward's Audre Lorde Lecture
Audre Lorde’s statement that “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house” stands for uncompromising vision in the fight…
vimeo.com
“But can’t we use the master’s tools just this once, as a treat??”
Here’s my talk about Lorde’s master’s tools, which got such a heartening reception in New York. Thanks to everyone who turned out—professors, students, poets, activists 🌱
Here’s my talk about Lorde’s master’s tools, which got such a heartening reception in New York. Thanks to everyone who turned out—professors, students, poets, activists 🌱
Do I have any followers who do research on this and can weigh in?
I think there’s a book on copaganda & I haven’t read it. But it seems to me there are at least 3 forms: (1) necessity of police to sustain society, (2) whitewashing of what police actually do by folding in other important social functions (eg social work), (3) justifying $$ for police
December 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Do I have any followers who do research on this and can weigh in?
Happy Jewish Christmas Bahn mi to all who observe
December 24, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Happy Jewish Christmas Bahn mi to all who observe
Horizontal recognition is STILL too often overlooked in philosophical literature. It’s wild!
10/ Their later work supplies the missing piece.
Agency grows out of horizontal recognition: communal life, shared practices, and mutual support among the oppressed themselves.
Agency grows out of horizontal recognition: communal life, shared practices, and mutual support among the oppressed themselves.
December 22, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Horizontal recognition is STILL too often overlooked in philosophical literature. It’s wild!
Daniel and Franz bringing out a rich historical-textual account of Angela Davis and Frantz Fanon on Hegel!
Brings me back to memories as a TA for the recently departed Eduardo Mendieta, who assigned Frederic Douglass & Davis’s Lectures on Liberation in his undergrad Existentialism course 🔥
Brings me back to memories as a TA for the recently departed Eduardo Mendieta, who assigned Frederic Douglass & Davis’s Lectures on Liberation in his undergrad Existentialism course 🔥
1/ New chapter out (with Franz Knappik): “G.W.F. Hegel, Frantz Fanon, and Angela Davis on Recognition, Slavery, and Liberation” – in Matt Congdon and Thomas Khurana’s Recognition: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives.
⬇️ Short thread below:
⬇️ Short thread below:
G.W.F. Hegel, Frantz Fanon, and Angela Davis On Recognition, Slavery,
This article explores a classical text in the philosophy of recognition – Hegel's discussion of the dialectic of lordship and bondage in the Phenomenology of
www.taylorfrancis.com
December 22, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Daniel and Franz bringing out a rich historical-textual account of Angela Davis and Frantz Fanon on Hegel!
Brings me back to memories as a TA for the recently departed Eduardo Mendieta, who assigned Frederic Douglass & Davis’s Lectures on Liberation in his undergrad Existentialism course 🔥
Brings me back to memories as a TA for the recently departed Eduardo Mendieta, who assigned Frederic Douglass & Davis’s Lectures on Liberation in his undergrad Existentialism course 🔥
Reposted by Caleb Ward
I am feeling like trash today so it’s time to lay in bed & come up with a Mariah curriculum. Or a playlist base to start.
Can’t not start here. I didn’t appreciate just how hard she came out swinging when I was eight years old but I owned this album on cassette.
youtu.be/tov22NtCMC4?...
Can’t not start here. I didn’t appreciate just how hard she came out swinging when I was eight years old but I owned this album on cassette.
youtu.be/tov22NtCMC4?...
Mariah Carey - Vision Of Love
YouTube video by MariahCareyVEVO
youtu.be
December 22, 2025 at 7:28 PM
I am feeling like trash today so it’s time to lay in bed & come up with a Mariah curriculum. Or a playlist base to start.
Can’t not start here. I didn’t appreciate just how hard she came out swinging when I was eight years old but I owned this album on cassette.
youtu.be/tov22NtCMC4?...
Can’t not start here. I didn’t appreciate just how hard she came out swinging when I was eight years old but I owned this album on cassette.
youtu.be/tov22NtCMC4?...
The surprises of the archive and the rabbithole into overlooked or never-before identified connections are exactly what disappears in LLM-assisted research.
Research is often coming across something, and going to oneself, 'Er, WHAT?' because it doesn't sound quite right, and going down a labyrinthine rabbithole - one instance that I pursued myself. And I suspect that there are probably still (non-online) sources in music-hall history worth consulting.
December 22, 2025 at 12:29 PM
The surprises of the archive and the rabbithole into overlooked or never-before identified connections are exactly what disappears in LLM-assisted research.
Reposted by Caleb Ward
Whoever said “A job begun is a job half done” was so completely full of shit. Like, really, they should be ashamed of themselves
December 19, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Whoever said “A job begun is a job half done” was so completely full of shit. Like, really, they should be ashamed of themselves
Infrastructure and logistics are the bleeding edge of critical theory.
“Marginalization in road regulation is an injustice, then—not just an inefficiency or poor design—because enclosure makes us dependent on roads, and that puts us in troublingly unequal and hierarchical relationships with each other”.
Why Egalitarian Philosophers (and the Rest of Us) Should Be More Concerned About Roads | Blog of the APA
Traffic is trivial. Rules of the road are a basic necessity for a well-functioning society, but their design is largely a technical matter of logistics and optimization best left to technocratic polic...
blog.apaonline.org
December 19, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Infrastructure and logistics are the bleeding edge of critical theory.
This looks intereting!
First publication out! It questions whether people who report loss of community due to gentrification and migration should both be treated as victims of injustice. My view is that we should, although injustice has different grounds in the latter case: the unjust distribution of affective burdens.
Gentrification, migration, and non-material injustice
Gentrification can harm residents at a personal and emotional level, even when they are not physically displaced. Recognising these non-material harms as a source of wrongful ‘phenomenological disp...
www.tandfonline.com
December 19, 2025 at 11:00 AM
This looks intereting!
This is sad news indeed. Eduardo was chair in philosophy when I arrived at Stony Brook & he left quite a mark. He was a very enthusiastic teacher and was so committed to broadening horizons of thought
He was also quirky as hell. I hope for a time and place for telling stories & shaking heads
He was also quirky as hell. I hope for a time and place for telling stories & shaking heads
Eduardo Mendieta has passed away. He was a friend and mentor to me, and he was responsible for so much of the activity in Latin American philosophy in the US in 90s and 00s. He is sorely missed.
December 19, 2025 at 5:23 AM
This is sad news indeed. Eduardo was chair in philosophy when I arrived at Stony Brook & he left quite a mark. He was a very enthusiastic teacher and was so committed to broadening horizons of thought
He was also quirky as hell. I hope for a time and place for telling stories & shaking heads
He was also quirky as hell. I hope for a time and place for telling stories & shaking heads
The foreword to The Unflinching Philosophy of Audre Lorde is in! I can tell you it is semi-official that the first words of my book will be "There is a longstanding tradition of gatekeepers within philosophy."
Courtesy of Myisha Cherry.🙏
Courtesy of Myisha Cherry.🙏
December 18, 2025 at 10:58 AM
The foreword to The Unflinching Philosophy of Audre Lorde is in! I can tell you it is semi-official that the first words of my book will be "There is a longstanding tradition of gatekeepers within philosophy."
Courtesy of Myisha Cherry.🙏
Courtesy of Myisha Cherry.🙏
Toni Cade Bambara famously asks theorists: “What are we pretending not to know today?”
It's in her fabulous miniature short story "The Education of a Storyteller."
The answer to that question is the sweetish smell of unseen rotting flesh.
It's in her fabulous miniature short story "The Education of a Storyteller."
The answer to that question is the sweetish smell of unseen rotting flesh.
"The sweetish smell of unseen rotting flesh"
In her poem "Equal Opportunity" Audre Lorde describes a woman pursuing upward mobility in the US military, against the backdrop of "the sweetish smell of unseen rotting flesh" as the US invades the tiny nation of Grenada. This is a perfect image
1/2
In her poem "Equal Opportunity" Audre Lorde describes a woman pursuing upward mobility in the US military, against the backdrop of "the sweetish smell of unseen rotting flesh" as the US invades the tiny nation of Grenada. This is a perfect image
1/2
December 17, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Toni Cade Bambara famously asks theorists: “What are we pretending not to know today?”
It's in her fabulous miniature short story "The Education of a Storyteller."
The answer to that question is the sweetish smell of unseen rotting flesh.
It's in her fabulous miniature short story "The Education of a Storyteller."
The answer to that question is the sweetish smell of unseen rotting flesh.
"The sweetish smell of unseen rotting flesh"
In her poem "Equal Opportunity" Audre Lorde describes a woman pursuing upward mobility in the US military, against the backdrop of "the sweetish smell of unseen rotting flesh" as the US invades the tiny nation of Grenada. This is a perfect image
1/2
In her poem "Equal Opportunity" Audre Lorde describes a woman pursuing upward mobility in the US military, against the backdrop of "the sweetish smell of unseen rotting flesh" as the US invades the tiny nation of Grenada. This is a perfect image
1/2
December 16, 2025 at 8:23 PM
"The sweetish smell of unseen rotting flesh"
In her poem "Equal Opportunity" Audre Lorde describes a woman pursuing upward mobility in the US military, against the backdrop of "the sweetish smell of unseen rotting flesh" as the US invades the tiny nation of Grenada. This is a perfect image
1/2
In her poem "Equal Opportunity" Audre Lorde describes a woman pursuing upward mobility in the US military, against the backdrop of "the sweetish smell of unseen rotting flesh" as the US invades the tiny nation of Grenada. This is a perfect image
1/2
Reposted by Caleb Ward
Here's a timeline of 500 years of Native American trans women's history, please learn things
(I accidentally published it with the worst picture as the main pic so am posting this with just the url.)
landbodymind.substack.com/p/500-years-...
(I accidentally published it with the worst picture as the main pic so am posting this with just the url.)
landbodymind.substack.com/p/500-years-...
December 16, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Here's a timeline of 500 years of Native American trans women's history, please learn things
(I accidentally published it with the worst picture as the main pic so am posting this with just the url.)
landbodymind.substack.com/p/500-years-...
(I accidentally published it with the worst picture as the main pic so am posting this with just the url.)
landbodymind.substack.com/p/500-years-...
Look, I submitted the referee report by the deadline. I'm not like other boys
December 16, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Look, I submitted the referee report by the deadline. I'm not like other boys
Reposted by Caleb Ward
Rinaldo Walcott on the podcast, talking re: the political meaning of Black Studies as a field of research and modality of struggle, the relation of politics to cultural and national studies, and the place of radical thinking in times of political crisis.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Rinaldo Walcott - Department of Africana and American Studies, University of Buffalo
Podcast Episode · The Black Studies Podcast · 08/08/2024 · 1h 12m
podcasts.apple.com
December 12, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Rinaldo Walcott on the podcast, talking re: the political meaning of Black Studies as a field of research and modality of struggle, the relation of politics to cultural and national studies, and the place of radical thinking in times of political crisis.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
I found this quote in a cassette recording of a Lorde speech/reading at University of Maryland in College Park in 1987. Legendary lesbian photographer JEB recorded it and the Smith College archive digitized it for me.
Hug your local archivist next time you see them (or at least buy them a coffee)
Hug your local archivist next time you see them (or at least buy them a coffee)
Audre Lorde spitting an absolute gem: "Coalitions don't happen between parts of wholes. They happen with wholes coming together. They happen with different people coming together, recognizing each other's differences. We cannot become each other in order to work together. We must become ourselves."
December 13, 2025 at 9:33 AM
I found this quote in a cassette recording of a Lorde speech/reading at University of Maryland in College Park in 1987. Legendary lesbian photographer JEB recorded it and the Smith College archive digitized it for me.
Hug your local archivist next time you see them (or at least buy them a coffee)
Hug your local archivist next time you see them (or at least buy them a coffee)
Audre Lorde spitting an absolute gem: "Coalitions don't happen between parts of wholes. They happen with wholes coming together. They happen with different people coming together, recognizing each other's differences. We cannot become each other in order to work together. We must become ourselves."
December 12, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Audre Lorde spitting an absolute gem: "Coalitions don't happen between parts of wholes. They happen with wholes coming together. They happen with different people coming together, recognizing each other's differences. We cannot become each other in order to work together. We must become ourselves."
I'm thinking about the phenomenology of asexuality and learning a shitload about color-blindness.
I have to say the "alien color view" & the "revised alien view" seem like the most badass. The "common color view" is just boring Rawlsian overlapping consensus stuff
What are you doing this morning?
I have to say the "alien color view" & the "revised alien view" seem like the most badass. The "common color view" is just boring Rawlsian overlapping consensus stuff
What are you doing this morning?
What is it like to be colour‐blind? A case study in experimental philosophy of experience
What is the experience of someone who is “colour-blind” like? This paper presents the results of a study that uses qualitative research methods to better understand the lived experience of colour bli....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:16 AM
I'm thinking about the phenomenology of asexuality and learning a shitload about color-blindness.
I have to say the "alien color view" & the "revised alien view" seem like the most badass. The "common color view" is just boring Rawlsian overlapping consensus stuff
What are you doing this morning?
I have to say the "alien color view" & the "revised alien view" seem like the most badass. The "common color view" is just boring Rawlsian overlapping consensus stuff
What are you doing this morning?
Consider getting your Philosophy from jazz musicians on this lovely Thursday
Whatever it is that philosophers do, jazz musicians can do better. Consider:
Duke Ellington upgraded Searle's so-called Chinese Room into a whole Far East Suite
Duke Ellington upgraded Searle's so-called Chinese Room into a whole Far East Suite
Duke Ellington - Far East Suite (1967) (Full Album)
YouTube video by Jazz Time with Jarvis X
www.youtube.com
December 11, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Consider getting your Philosophy from jazz musicians on this lovely Thursday
Reposted by Caleb Ward
🫣 Ha, I’m looking for people willing to review my scripts book!
"I can't afford to support my favorite author right now, I—"
Reviews.
Reviews are free AND they are a gift to authors that can keep on giving (i.e., exposure, marketing, algo boosts, etc.)
Please, give the gift of reviews to your authors this holiday season. It really can make a difference!
Reviews.
Reviews are free AND they are a gift to authors that can keep on giving (i.e., exposure, marketing, algo boosts, etc.)
Please, give the gift of reviews to your authors this holiday season. It really can make a difference!
December 10, 2025 at 9:33 PM
🫣 Ha, I’m looking for people willing to review my scripts book!
Reposted by Caleb Ward
Iceland to boycott 2026 Eurovision in protest of go-ahead for Israel reut.rs/4oJ5woX
Iceland to boycott 2026 Eurovision in protest of go-ahead for Israel
Iceland will not take part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, the country's public broadcaster RUV said on Wednesday, after organiser the European Broadcasting Union last week cleared Israel's participation.
reut.rs
December 10, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Iceland to boycott 2026 Eurovision in protest of go-ahead for Israel reut.rs/4oJ5woX
Happy A Love Supreme day to all who celebrate, within or without the Church of John Coltrane. Here 's a recording of the 4th movement "Psalm," with the words to his poem that he plays verbatim.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kOu...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kOu...
Psalm- A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
YouTube video by MarleeIMystic
www.youtube.com
December 9, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Happy A Love Supreme day to all who celebrate, within or without the Church of John Coltrane. Here 's a recording of the 4th movement "Psalm," with the words to his poem that he plays verbatim.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kOu...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kOu...
We forgot to water the plantain shoots
when our houses were full of borrowed meat
and our stomachs with the gifts of strangers
who laugh now as they pass us
because our land is barren
when our houses were full of borrowed meat
and our stomachs with the gifts of strangers
who laugh now as they pass us
because our land is barren
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 7, 2025 at 9:19 AM
We forgot to water the plantain shoots
when our houses were full of borrowed meat
and our stomachs with the gifts of strangers
who laugh now as they pass us
because our land is barren
when our houses were full of borrowed meat
and our stomachs with the gifts of strangers
who laugh now as they pass us
because our land is barren