Karl Marx was a German philosopher, economist, social theorist, political journalist, historian, a key figure of the labor movement, and a critic of capitalism and religion.

#KarlMarx
#Philosophy
#EconomicTheory
#SocialTheory
#History
#PoliticalJournalism
#LaborHistory
#19thCentury

A new episode of the Key Concepts series is now live! In this episode, I explore my favourite concept, the imaginary, and explain how it has been developed across the social sciences 👇🏽 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vndj82-yzF8

#sociologyconcepts #anthropology #humangeography #socialtheory #imaginary #imagination

The philosophical giant Jürgen Habermas has left us.

Habermas spent decades championing the "theory of communicative action" - the idea that democracy only functions when we actually listen to one another. Without his guiding voice, we face a chilling reality: a world where the loudest lies often drown out the most reasoned truths.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Habermas

#Habermas #Democracy #Philosophy #PublicSphere #Communication #SocialTheory

I've just been writing about "Vertigo: The Rise and Fall of Weimar Germany" by Harald Jähnner.

One author discussed there is Helmuth Plessner, with a focus on his 1924 "Grenzen der Gemeinschaft" (Limits of Community).

Katja Haustein wrote about Plessner in a TLS review (24/4/20) of his "Political Anthropology":

>>In Political Anthropology (Macht und menschliche Natur), written in 1931, Plessner discusses the anthropological origins of the human tendency to give in to authoritarian forms of government. Closely linked to his earlier and more accessible essay, The Limits of Community (1924), the book reads as a passionate warning against the rise of social and political radicalism that so exhausted the Weimar Republic. Much of Plessner's argument is based on what Richard Sennett has called the "tyrannies of intimacy". Plessner claimed that the central problem of modern subjectivity was not a growing distance between individuals, but, on the contrary, its disappearance. He curbed widespread expectations that promote politicized conceptions of community (Gemeinschaft) as a space in which alienation would dissolve. He attacked the idealization of a "seamless togetherness" tainted by nationalist colours, and defended the idea of society (Gesellschaft) as a space in which distance affords man his dignity. <<

I've got to read some Plessner!

Image: Wikipedia

#HelmuthPlessner #Philosophy #SocialTheory #Germany #WeimarRepublic

🌟 Episode 1 of the Key Concepts series, based on my book, is now out. It discusses what structure of feeling is. Welcome to watch it if interested 👉🏽 https://youtu.be/CnDs8V-8qzA

#sociologyconcepts #sociology #socialtheory

right about the problems but hilariously, tragically wrong about the solutions

Everyone seems to be talking or thinking or reading (about) Stewart Brand right now, which I presume must mean he's made or making or about to make some new intervention in the culture.

https://www.velcro-city.co.uk/right-about-the-problems-but-hilariously-tragically-wrong-about-the-solutions/

#Criticism #Futures #InfrastructuralTheory #SocialTheory #Technology

💡 I’m launching a short educational video series based on ‘The urban life of workers in post-Soviet Russia’, where I explain the key concepts and theoretical ideas from my research in an accessible way.

The series includes five episodes, each considering one concept and released on Wednesdays. I’ll discuss structures of feeling, senses, imaginaries, orders of power and everyday struggles.

Welcome to watch the intro if interested! 👉🏽 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NoSzkScfqCU&list=PLY9XQfhijAHxU4Wa-kk5Rma5m08jdCseE&index=1&pp=iAQBsAgC

#sociologyconcepts #socialtheory

As a progressive liberal that used to be libtarted.

By which i mean socially progressive but largely unaware of the wider systems which perpetuated systemic inequality.

There is a lot to learn within progressivism from the dialectic between the communal necessity of communist theory and the just individualistic focus of anarchist theory.

#Progressivism #SocialTheory

no one thinks deeply enough to notice

I have next to zero interest in that Wuthering Heights movie. So why did I read this long piece that takes it as a jumping-off point?

https://www.velcro-city.co.uk/no-one-thinks-deeply-enough-to-notice/

#Art #Criticism #Movies #SocialTheory