Necropolitics Covered

Transit Spaces: Thinking Urban Change in South Africa

Barac, M. (2007) ‘Transit Spaces: Thinking Urban Change in South Africa’, Home Cultures, 4(2), pp. 147–176. doi: 10.2752/174063107X209000. Abstract: This work looks at aspects of urban development in post-apartheid South Africa. It concerns the tension between the symbolic town, represented by the “Rainbow Nation,” and the practical town: a topography conceived as a plan of action. Located in Khayelitsha township at Cape Town's metropolitan periphery, Victoria Mxenge's shack settlement provides an informal silhouette against which the journey from apartheid to the “Rainbow Nation” is staged. Understanding change on this scale and of this nature entails deciphering the city's transformational urban order. This task demands that we situate individual endeavors within a common world. As a reciprocity anchored to place, such a dialogue is most explicitly played out between the home and the town, between self and city. Domestic visual culture often appears to be at odds with official policies and professional practices that administer urban transformation. This research draws on field studies that have tracked changes to the environment at the scale of a neighborhood block, and in particular the concern for public space at the recently completed Bangiso Tandazo Link project. Conceived as a sign of change and a vehicle for its delivery, this “transit space” frames the larger question of the urban future: the prospect of a topography connecting township to town. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit necropolitics.substack.com [https://necropolitics.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

On Environmental Communication as a Care Discipline

Pezzullo, P. C. (2024) ‘On Environmental Communication as a Care Discipline’, Environmental Communication, 18(1–2), pp. 1–7. doi: 10.1080/17524032.2023.2300361. Abstract: This is a Special Issue opening essay. The theme of the Special Issue is Care, edited by the author in the inaugural issue of her three-year editorship of the journal. The author furthers her argument for redefining the field of environmental communication as not just a crisis discipline, but also a care discipline. She addresses limitations and possibilities of care as an ethic and discourse today. In conclusion, she turns attention to the aspirations of her editorship, this issue, and invites more research that reflects on the ethical considerations of the field. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit necropolitics.substack.com [https://necropolitics.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Empire or Imperialism: Implications for a 'New' politics of resistance

Ahluwalia, P. (2004) ‘Empire or Imperialism: Implications for a “New” politics of resistance’, Social Identities, 10(5), pp. 629–645. doi: 10.1080/1350463042000294278. Abstract: Globalisation raises questions about the capacity of the nation-state to function within the national interest. Hardt and Negri argue that nation-state sovereignty is in decline and that Empire -- a new supranational and deterritorialising form of sovereignty -- has superseded it. The question then arises, where does sovereignty reside if it is no longer existent within the nation-state. It is here that post-colonial theory may well provide insights as post-colonial subjects have had to confront these issues. The following questions are explored through a critical engagement with recent social theory. What is the relationship between the biological and political body within such a context? Furthermore, what are the implications of this for a politics of resistance? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit necropolitics.substack.com [https://necropolitics.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Teaching death ritual during states of emergency: Centering death positivity, anti-racism, grief, & ritual

Abstract: This article examines the challenges and opportunities of teaching an online university seminar on Death Rituals in the midst of several domestic and global crises, including: the COVID-19 pandemic; the massive uprising for Black Lives and against police homicides of unarmed Black individuals; and the climate crisis. In light of these ongoing emergencies, as well as increased cultural attention to their structural intersections, this article makes the case for radical inter and trans disciplinarity when teaching about death and dying. Specifically, the article calls for incorporating death positive and anti-racist pedagogies, while also making space for grief and ritual on both experiential and theoretical levels. The article first provides an overview of the dominant disciplinary frameworks for teaching about death and dying, followed by a description of the author’s personal stakes as well as the political context of the course. Next is a summary of the author’s guiding pedagogical, theoretical, and philosophical frameworks, with examples of how they were operationalized in the course’s design and delivery. The article concludes with a reflexive assessment of this class and provides suggestions for future teaching in death and dying. Citation: Lerum, K. A. (2021) ‘Teaching death ritual during states of emergency: Centering death positivity, anti-racism, grief, & ritual’, Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 20(1), pp. 40–62. doi: 10.1080/15505170.2021.1964114. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit necropolitics.substack.com [https://necropolitics.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Right to Hide? Anti-Surveillance Camouflage and the Aestheticization of Resistance

Monahan, T. (2015) ‘The Right to Hide? Anti-Surveillance Camouflage and the Aestheticization of Resistance’, Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 12(2), pp. 159–178. doi: 10.1080/14791420.2015.1006646. Abstract: There has been a recent surge in artistic designs to conceal oneself from ambient surveillance in public places. These center on the masking of identity to undermine technological efforts to fix someone as a unique entity apart from the crowd. Ranging from fractal face paint and hairstyles, to realistic resin masks, to reflective underwear, anti-surveillance camouflage ostensibly allows people to hide in plain sight. These designs, however, enact an aestheticization of resistance premised on individual avoidance rather than meaningful challenge to the violent and discriminatory logics of surveillance societies. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit necropolitics.substack.com [https://necropolitics.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]