Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
@distinktionjournal.bsky.social
Critical social and political theory in a postfoundational key. Articles and special issues welcome - contact h.richter@sussex.ac.uk and gavinrae@ucm.es
Reposted by Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
Sofia Näsström examines the possibilities for democratic self-defense, proposing the social security approach as well as examining common objections against it, in her article published in @distinktionjournal.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1080/1600...
doi.org/10.1080/1600...
Democratic self-defense: bringing the social model back in
The rise of authoritarian populism has forced many democracies to consider how best to defend democracy against its inner enemies. In the literature on democratic self-defense, one often distinguis...
doi.org
November 6, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Sofia Näsström examines the possibilities for democratic self-defense, proposing the social security approach as well as examining common objections against it, in her article published in @distinktionjournal.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1080/1600...
doi.org/10.1080/1600...
Reposted by Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
New at @distinktionjournal.bsky.social: Immediacy, mediation and praxis: reading @annakornbluh.bsky.social through the lens of Guy Debord.
The article is currently open access!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The article is currently open access!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
October 17, 2025 at 7:41 PM
New at @distinktionjournal.bsky.social: Immediacy, mediation and praxis: reading @annakornbluh.bsky.social through the lens of Guy Debord.
The article is currently open access!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The article is currently open access!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
Another article I commissioned for @distinktionjournal.bsky.social neoliberalism–fascism special issue is now out!
It examines the political aesthetics of tradwife imagery, using Nancy Fraser & Walter Benjamin to show how nostalgia for domesticity blends empowerment with neoliberal labour politics.
It examines the political aesthetics of tradwife imagery, using Nancy Fraser & Walter Benjamin to show how nostalgia for domesticity blends empowerment with neoliberal labour politics.
September 25, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Another article I commissioned for @distinktionjournal.bsky.social neoliberalism–fascism special issue is now out!
It examines the political aesthetics of tradwife imagery, using Nancy Fraser & Walter Benjamin to show how nostalgia for domesticity blends empowerment with neoliberal labour politics.
It examines the political aesthetics of tradwife imagery, using Nancy Fraser & Walter Benjamin to show how nostalgia for domesticity blends empowerment with neoliberal labour politics.
Reposted by Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
Check out my new article published @distinktionjournal.bsky.social on contrarianism as a cultural practice enabled by the institutional logic of Silicon Valley VC. Read it here (open access): www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Contrarian optionality and negative mimesis: venture capital and the institutional logic of Silicon Valley
This paper offers a theorization of contrarianism in Silicon Valley, presenting it as a strategic rationality underpinned by institutional infrastructure. Rather than treating contrarianism as prin...
www.tandfonline.com
August 27, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Check out my new article published @distinktionjournal.bsky.social on contrarianism as a cultural practice enabled by the institutional logic of Silicon Valley VC. Read it here (open access): www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
New at @distinktionjournal.bsky.social: “A new political diagonal? how students in the United States constructed internationalist solidarity with Palestine”: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
August 16, 2025 at 6:36 PM
New at @distinktionjournal.bsky.social: “A new political diagonal? how students in the United States constructed internationalist solidarity with Palestine”: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
New issue of Distinktion is out! This one is all about theorising the political present - with papers on the fascist uses of conspiracy theories, identity, hegemony and cities as anti-utopian blueprints www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/2...
Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
Volume 26, Issue 2 of Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
www.tandfonline.com
July 2, 2025 at 6:37 PM
New issue of Distinktion is out! This one is all about theorising the political present - with papers on the fascist uses of conspiracy theories, identity, hegemony and cities as anti-utopian blueprints www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/2...
Very excited to see the first paper of our forthcoming special isdue on the intersections of neoliberalism and fascism out! Lloyd Cox and Brendon O'Connor argue that Trumpism is a 'proto-fascism' in whose emergence neoliberalism has been heavily implicated. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Trumpism, fascism and neoliberalism
The recent US presidential election has re-energised a debate about Trumpism and fascism that has been percolating since 2015. This debate has unfolded in stark binary terms of presence or absence....
www.tandfonline.com
March 27, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Very excited to see the first paper of our forthcoming special isdue on the intersections of neoliberalism and fascism out! Lloyd Cox and Brendon O'Connor argue that Trumpism is a 'proto-fascism' in whose emergence neoliberalism has been heavily implicated. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
In their fascinating exchange, @ludovico-rella.bsky.social and colleagues argue that technologies like AI and blockchain cause hybridisation in the realms of materiality, power and expertise www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Hybrid materialities, power, and expertise in the era of general purpose technologies
This article proposes three distinct perspectives on and approaches to the study of hybridisation across society, industries, and academia enabled by General Purpose Technologies like AI and blockc...
www.tandfonline.com
March 10, 2025 at 8:42 PM
In their fascinating exchange, @ludovico-rella.bsky.social and colleagues argue that technologies like AI and blockchain cause hybridisation in the realms of materiality, power and expertise www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
And @mflohr.bsky.social recovers Marx's highly original theory of democracy and constituent power www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Beyond political theology: Marx’s materialist theorization of democracy and constituent power
This article recovers and develops Marx’s highly original materialist theorization of democracy and constituent power in Critique of Hegel’s Doctrine of State. Through close textual analysis and th...
www.tandfonline.com
March 7, 2025 at 9:55 PM
And @mflohr.bsky.social recovers Marx's highly original theory of democracy and constituent power www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Luca Mavelli argues that Foucault's 'impure' critique of neoliberalism tells us something about the symbiotic entanglements particular to the neoliberal regime of truth www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Symbiotic neoliberalism: Foucault and the impure critique of neoliberalism
This article brings together two distinct research trajectories – the growing characterization of neoliberalism as a monster and the recent debate on whether Foucault was a neoliberal – to investig...
www.tandfonline.com
March 7, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Luca Mavelli argues that Foucault's 'impure' critique of neoliberalism tells us something about the symbiotic entanglements particular to the neoliberal regime of truth www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Also in the new issue, @timchristiaens.bsky.social uses Castoriadis' early work to develop an agonistic theory of work at amazon's Mechanical Turk www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Cornelius Castoriadis’ agonistic theory of the future of work at Amazon Mechanical Turk
Digital innovations are rapidly changing the contemporary workplace. Big Tech companies marketing algorithmic management increasingly decide on the Future of Work. Political responses, however, oft...
www.tandfonline.com
March 7, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Also in the new issue, @timchristiaens.bsky.social uses Castoriadis' early work to develop an agonistic theory of work at amazon's Mechanical Turk www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
In our new issue, @alexdobeson.bsky.social @toteraltermann.bsky.social and Saskia Brill develop a field guide to the most salient forms of contemporary capitalism www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Sorting out economic forms: a field guide to contemporary capitalism
A series of recent works have put forward a post-commodification understanding of the contemporary economy as based on one central economic form. While this approach allows us to conceptualize the ...
www.tandfonline.com
March 7, 2025 at 9:40 PM
In our new issue, @alexdobeson.bsky.social @toteraltermann.bsky.social and Saskia Brill develop a field guide to the most salient forms of contemporary capitalism www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
@islates.bsky.social and @mohanjdutt.bsky.social use Lacanian theory to rethink control and resistance in platform work www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The algorithmic big Other: using Lacanian theory to rethink control and resistance in platform work
Despite burgeoning literature on platform work, there has been a lack of scholarship which carefully considers what we mean by the terms control and (particularly) resistance in the context of algo...
www.tandfonline.com
March 7, 2025 at 9:35 PM
@islates.bsky.social and @mohanjdutt.bsky.social use Lacanian theory to rethink control and resistance in platform work www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
New Issue of Distinktion is out! 💥This one has a focus on contemporary capitalism, desire and algorithmic governance www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/c...
Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
Volume 26, Issue 1 of Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
www.tandfonline.com
March 7, 2025 at 9:30 PM
New Issue of Distinktion is out! 💥This one has a focus on contemporary capitalism, desire and algorithmic governance www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/c...
Reposted by Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
My paper on Castoriadis and workplace struggles over digital technology in @distinktionjournal.bsky.social received an issue number. When Big Tech today looks like an unstoppable force of destruction, I hope we can still see how to contest oppressive technologies.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Cornelius Castoriadis’ agonistic theory of the future of work at Amazon Mechanical Turk
Digital innovations are rapidly changing the contemporary workplace. Big Tech companies marketing algorithmic management increasingly decide on the Future of Work. Political responses, however, oft...
www.tandfonline.com
March 7, 2025 at 9:10 AM
My paper on Castoriadis and workplace struggles over digital technology in @distinktionjournal.bsky.social received an issue number. When Big Tech today looks like an unstoppable force of destruction, I hope we can still see how to contest oppressive technologies.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
'A science of stereotypes: paranoiac-critical forays within the medium of information' @distinktionjournal.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/1600...
December 10, 2024 at 8:46 AM
'A science of stereotypes: paranoiac-critical forays within the medium of information' @distinktionjournal.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/1600...
Reposted by Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
My special issue proposal on Silicon Valley has been accepted by @distinktionjournal.bsky.social 🎉 Excited to work with great contributors: Sherryl Vint, Hugh O’Connell, Jeannette Estruth, Susannah Glickman, Matthew Darmour, Erdogan Sima, & Max Haiven. More to come but for now, celebrating this win!
December 3, 2024 at 4:07 PM
My special issue proposal on Silicon Valley has been accepted by @distinktionjournal.bsky.social 🎉 Excited to work with great contributors: Sherryl Vint, Hugh O’Connell, Jeannette Estruth, Susannah Glickman, Matthew Darmour, Erdogan Sima, & Max Haiven. More to come but for now, celebrating this win!
New issue of Distinktion is out! With a fantastic special section on Lukács and the Critique of Capitalism, including papers by Alberto Toscano @alfatau.bsky.social, Timothy Bewes and Arthur Bueno, www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/c...
Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
Volume 25, Issue 3 of Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
www.tandfonline.com
November 26, 2024 at 12:48 PM
Contra the presumption of a rational public sphere, Eeva Luhtakallio @luhtakallio.bsky.social and Taina Meriluoto @meritaina.bsky.social show that fame matters for how value is publicly assigned
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Fame democracy? Social media and visuality-based transformation of the public sphere
We argue that a shift in the underlying values that inform people’s actions in the public sphere is taking place in the social media age. From ways of qualifying the public sphere as a space that p...
www.tandfonline.com
November 26, 2024 at 12:46 PM
Contra the presumption of a rational public sphere, Eeva Luhtakallio @luhtakallio.bsky.social and Taina Meriluoto @meritaina.bsky.social show that fame matters for how value is publicly assigned
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Mikkel Flohr @mflohr.bsky.social argues that we should think Marx's critique of the Srate through the concept of alienation www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Karl Marx’s critique of the state as an alienation of society in his 1843 Critique of Hegel’s Doctrine of State
Alienation became a central but controversial concept in the reception and interpretation of Karl Marx’s thought after the posthumous publication of the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts in 19...
www.tandfonline.com
November 26, 2024 at 8:53 AM
Mikkel Flohr @mflohr.bsky.social argues that we should think Marx's critique of the Srate through the concept of alienation www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
William Davies @will-davies.bsky.social makes the case that we should take reaction seriously as subjective and social expressions in the digital public sphere www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reaction value: affective reflex in the digital public sphere
The concept of ‘reaction’ has been frequently viewed pejoratively in the history of social and moral theory, as unthinking and often resentful. But ‘reactions’ of various kinds play a central role ...
www.tandfonline.com
November 26, 2024 at 8:50 AM
William Davies @will-davies.bsky.social makes the case that we should take reaction seriously as subjective and social expressions in the digital public sphere www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
New issue of Distinktion is out! With a fantastic special section on Lukács and the Critique of Capitalism, including papers by Alberto Toscano @alfatau.bsky.social, Timothy Bewes and Arthur Bueno, www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/c...
Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
Volume 25, Issue 3 of Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
www.tandfonline.com
November 26, 2024 at 8:35 AM
New issue of Distinktion is out! With a fantastic special section on Lukács and the Critique of Capitalism, including papers by Alberto Toscano @alfatau.bsky.social, Timothy Bewes and Arthur Bueno, www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/c...
New Distinktion issue (25:2) is out! It is a special issue on "Forms of Theorizing" that explores how, from which building blocks, and to what end we make social theory - individually or collectively.
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/c...
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/c...
Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
Explore the current issue of Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, Volume 25, Issue 2, 2024
www.tandfonline.com
November 20, 2024 at 6:55 PM
New Distinktion issue (25:2) is out! It is a special issue on "Forms of Theorizing" that explores how, from which building blocks, and to what end we make social theory - individually or collectively.
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/c...
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/c...
New Distinktion issue (25:2) is out! It is a special issue on "Forms of Theorizing" that explores how, from which building blocks, and to what end we make social theory - individually or collectively.
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/c...
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/c...
Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
Explore the current issue of Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, Volume 25, Issue 2, 2024
www.tandfonline.com
November 20, 2024 at 6:55 PM
New Distinktion issue (25:2) is out! It is a special issue on "Forms of Theorizing" that explores how, from which building blocks, and to what end we make social theory - individually or collectively.
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/c...
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rdis20/c...
Reposted by Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory
Great to see that Alberto Toscano publishes in @distinktionjournal.bsky.social, where he discusses how the young Lukács viewed life as resistant to transformation under modern capitalism and explored the potential for self-transformation in modern drama. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Freedom from tragedy: remarks on the early Lukács
This essay explores some of the ways in which, between 1907 and 1911, the young Lukács articulated a conception of life as that which could not be formed or transformed under the fallen and inauthe...
www.tandfonline.com
June 11, 2024 at 9:12 AM
Great to see that Alberto Toscano publishes in @distinktionjournal.bsky.social, where he discusses how the young Lukács viewed life as resistant to transformation under modern capitalism and explored the potential for self-transformation in modern drama. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....