I actually found Hicks' audiobook fascinating. I've listened to it twice and read through the physical book once. There's an awful lot to digest there. I think that "cynical theories" gets a lot of their info from Hicks' book.
I'm reluctant to recommend "cynical theories" these days because one of the authors, James Lindsay, has gone off the deep end.
I recommend Richard Delgado's "Critical Race Theory" because he's one of the originators of CRT and you can expect the most charitable interpretation. His presentation is generally pre-postmodern, but he speaks favorably of many of the more troubling mutations of the original theory, so, IMO, it's hard to defend CRT on the basis that it's only an "obscure law school theory".
Yes I think Cynical Theories is a kind of digest, but I did appreciate how they condensed the entire history of theory rather than unpacking in detail.
I will check out the book you recommended. Thank you. So Delgado is balanced? Not so emotive and irrational?
No, Delgado isn't balanced! He's an originator of CRT and is promoting it as a solution. I second Greg Esres's recommendation of Delgado's writings, but not for their balance! CRT is guff and it's worth getting it straight from the horse's mouth rather than secondhand.
I wanted to recommend some other earlier critiques of postmodernism. Michael Albert of of socialist-anarchist Z Magazine wrote & compiled several articles, interviews and debates on the topic of what postmodernism is and what it means when applying pomo theory to social justice movements grounded in material reality that aim to improve material conditions.
Also, Karla Mantilla from the radical feminist-leaning off our backs magazine collective wrote this prescient article in 1999. Here's part of her intro:
"I have been trying to see not just what postmodern theorists say about their theory, but more importantly, how postmodern theory functions in the world–what are the effects of adopting postmodern thinking and theorizing. What became clear to me after some reading was that the overarching effect of postmodernism is to silence thinking and speaking, both personally and politically. I am aware that this is a rather outrageous statement given the attention postmodern theory pays to privileging the voices of marginalized people, to giving voice to those previously unheard, and to investigating the silences embedded in the dominant discourse (to sling a little postmodern verbiage myself). However, in a deep reading of how postmodern theory functions, I find that these claims are little more than lip service. The important thing to see is not what postmodernism says it does, but how it actually functions."
Thanks for these links. I’m especially interested in how POMO theory has diluted feminism. I have a future post coming up on this and how it could apply to our teaching. Will check these out - thanks!
I actually found Hicks' audiobook fascinating. I've listened to it twice and read through the physical book once. There's an awful lot to digest there. I think that "cynical theories" gets a lot of their info from Hicks' book.
I'm reluctant to recommend "cynical theories" these days because one of the authors, James Lindsay, has gone off the deep end.
I recommend Richard Delgado's "Critical Race Theory" because he's one of the originators of CRT and you can expect the most charitable interpretation. His presentation is generally pre-postmodern, but he speaks favorably of many of the more troubling mutations of the original theory, so, IMO, it's hard to defend CRT on the basis that it's only an "obscure law school theory".
Yes I think Cynical Theories is a kind of digest, but I did appreciate how they condensed the entire history of theory rather than unpacking in detail.
I will check out the book you recommended. Thank you. So Delgado is balanced? Not so emotive and irrational?
It is a shame when people go off the deep end!
No, Delgado isn't balanced! He's an originator of CRT and is promoting it as a solution. I second Greg Esres's recommendation of Delgado's writings, but not for their balance! CRT is guff and it's worth getting it straight from the horse's mouth rather than secondhand.
I don't find Hicks very satisfying, intellectually.
As for James Lindsay, he is weird on other topics but when he sticks to his main area of CRT he is still worth listening to.
It's Helen Pluckrose, though, who has more of a background in Feminism and Postmodernism. James Lindsay is more focussed on Critical Theory/Marxism.
Very interesting piece!
I wanted to recommend some other earlier critiques of postmodernism. Michael Albert of of socialist-anarchist Z Magazine wrote & compiled several articles, interviews and debates on the topic of what postmodernism is and what it means when applying pomo theory to social justice movements grounded in material reality that aim to improve material conditions.
Link: https://zcomm.org/science-wars/
Also, Karla Mantilla from the radical feminist-leaning off our backs magazine collective wrote this prescient article in 1999. Here's part of her intro:
"I have been trying to see not just what postmodern theorists say about their theory, but more importantly, how postmodern theory functions in the world–what are the effects of adopting postmodern thinking and theorizing. What became clear to me after some reading was that the overarching effect of postmodernism is to silence thinking and speaking, both personally and politically. I am aware that this is a rather outrageous statement given the attention postmodern theory pays to privileging the voices of marginalized people, to giving voice to those previously unheard, and to investigating the silences embedded in the dominant discourse (to sling a little postmodern verbiage myself). However, in a deep reading of how postmodern theory functions, I find that these claims are little more than lip service. The important thing to see is not what postmodernism says it does, but how it actually functions."
https://sisterhoodispowerful.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/let-them-eat-text-the-real-politics-of-postmodernism/
Thanks for these links. I’m especially interested in how POMO theory has diluted feminism. I have a future post coming up on this and how it could apply to our teaching. Will check these out - thanks!