When political philosophy goes viral…

 

Pretty mad example of how political memes can emerge…

For background, see also: http://takethecrosstown.com/2012/03/01/when-faculty-go-viral/

WIL WHEATON dot TUMBLR, (via my teacher says some smart shit. thought you….

#OCCUPYIRTHEORY @ ISA2012, San Diego

ISA Headquarters have kindly granted the use of a room for a special #occupyirtheory meeting at the upcoming Annual Convention, in San Diego, April 1-4, 2012.

The meeting will be listed on the official online version of the schedule as #OCCUPYIRTHEORY? Lessons from OWS for the Study of World Politics. It will be held at at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel on Tuesday, April 3 from 6:30 to 9:30 pm.

The event will open with a brief roundtable with various speakers (TBA) addressing a diversity of themes related to IR, IPE, and OWS. It is hoped we will have some local Occupy San Diego activists present to offer their thoughts, too. This will be followed by a GA-style event where audience members will be welcome to engage in informal discussion on strategies and initiatives that the movement might chose to pursue.

There will also be an informal strategy meeting on Sunday night for anyone interested in helping out with running the event.

If you are interested in playing a role in organizing this, or you just have any questions or concerns, feel welcome to email us at occupyirtheory *AT* gmail *DOT* com, or contact one of the group members on Facebook.

Thanks everyone!

#occupyirtheory

TRIP, Wendt, and IR’s Disorder

So, here we have an excerpt from OSU’s Mershon newsletter – which is a nice way to introduce the below excerpt from the Disorder of Things blog…

In a survey of faculty at more than 1,400 colleges and universities worldwide, Alexander Wendt was named as having the most influence in the field of international relations over the past 20 years. Wendt is Ralph D. Mershon Professor of International Security.The survey was part of the Teaching, Research, and International Policy TRIP Project done by the Theory and Practice of International Relations at the College of William and Mary. This is the projects fourth survey since 2004.Wendt was also named for producing the best work in the field of international relations over the past 20 years, and third for producing the most interesting scholarship over the past five years.Wendt is author of Social Theory of International Politics Cambridge, 1999, widely cited for bringing social constructivist theory to the field of international relations. His book argues that international politics is determined not primarily by material concerns such as wealth and power, but by states perceptions of each other as rivals, enemies, and friends. Social Theory of International Politics was named Best Book of the Decade by the International Studies Association in 2006 and has been translated into 10 languages.Wendt is also co-editor, with Duncan Snidal, of International Theory: A Journal of International Politics, Law and Philosophy. His recent publications include New Systems Theories of World Politics Palgrave, 2009, edited with Mathias Albert and Lars-Erik Cederman. Based on a 2005 Mershon Center conference, the book uses a number of systems theoretical approaches to analyze the structure and dynamics of the international system. Wendt’s contribution, “Flatland: Quantum Mind and the International System,” compares the international system to a hologram.

via Mershon Memo.

And now a quote from this excellent Disorder of Things commentary:

The self-image of the discipline continues to shift within the American heartland, not least with respect to the Big Other of Realism. The 2009 TRIP Survey recorded the percentage of self-identified Realists among US respondents at 21%, with Liberals at 20% and Constructivists at 17%. Things have progressed some way since then, with only just over 16% now willing to call themselves Realist against a steady 20% of Liberals and a narrowly triumphant 20.4% of Constructivists (and given the rankings awarded to Wendt within the ‘top four scholars’ sections, the shorter TRIPS may be rendered more simply as: ALEXANDER WENDT MADE ME A CONSTRUCTIVIST). Agnostics and Refuseniks together continue to outnumber these main categories with 11.5% naming themselves ‘Other’ and a further 25.7% declining to name any paradigmatic preference (a slight increase, but essentially the same levels as in 2008).

Read more here…

Occupy Foreign Affairs | FPIF

With thanks to Pablo K:

When Foreign Affairs puts inequality on its cover – and hosts a debate on the topic at the tony offices of the Council on Foreign Relations – the Occupy Wall Street movement has achieved a major victory that eclipses even the generally favorable coverage in liberal bastions such as The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and The New Yorker. It’s also a sign that a profound anxiety gnaws at the foreign policy elite in this country. The question is: why are foreign policy mandarins suddenly so fretful? Or, put another way, why does Foreign Affairs want its readers to take this issue so seriously?

via Occupy Foreign Affairs | FPIF.

CFP on ‘Occupy’ for Social Movement Studies special edition

This looks a little similar to our JCGS issue, which will be out soon, but definitely a great opportunity to go into more detail on the #occupy movements in general…

http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/14742837.asp

We are producing a special edition on the recent Occupy… movement. Our aim is to publish around a dozen short papers in a ‘virtual issue’, made freely available (open access) on our journal website; around half of these papers will also be printed in the hard copy of the journal. Given the timeliness of Occupy… events, we intend to collate this edition quickly, for publication in summer 2012 (volume 11 issue 3). Continue reading CFP on ‘Occupy’ for Social Movement Studies special edition

The Revolution Will Be Live Streamed: Global Revolution TV, the Occupy Movement’s Video Hub

For the past two months, a website called Global Revolution TV has become the main video hub for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Featuring live video feeds from New York and dozens of other cities hosting Occupy protests, the site has transformed how protests are covered and observed. When OWS protesters hold a General Assembly in Zuccotti Park, the gathering is usually live streamed across the world. When police raided the park early on Tuesday, it was caught on live stream as well. We speak to one of the site’s co-founders, Vlad Teichberg. He is a former derivatives trader who gave up a life in the financial world to work on video activism. “This project started initially with the beginning of the New York occupation. Other, similar versions of this project had been done in the past for other actions and revolts,” Teichberg says. “People think of Occupy Wall Street as an American revolution. It has its roots though, in the Arab Spring, obviously, which inspired a lot of things. And it has very direct roots in the Spanish revolution.”

via The Revolution Will Be Live Streamed: Global Revolution TV, the Occupy Movement’s Video Hub.

Insurgent Notes | The Next Step for Occupy Wall Street: Occupy Buildings, Occupy Workplaces

Whatever happens in the immediate future, a wall of silence on the accumulated misery of four decades has been breached.  Every day brings further news of attacks on working people as world capitalism spins out of control.  Never has it been clearer that capitalist “normalcy” depends on the passivity of those it crushes to save itself, and from Tunisia and Egypt, via Greece and Spain, to New York, Oakland, Seattle and Portland, that passivity is over.  The task today is to throw everything we have into approaching that point of no return where conditions cry out: “We have the chance to change the world, let’s take it.”

via Insurgent Notes | The Next Step for Occupy Wall Street: Occupy Buildings, Occupy Workplaces.

Interview with creator of Occupy Wall Street “bat-signal” projections during Brooklyn Bridge #N17 march – Boing Boing

But we started thinking about creating a more unifying moment. A celebration of the birthday of Occupy Wall Street. Maybe taking the roadway and having lots of arrests might not be best thing. What if we took the pedestrian walkway, and gave out LED candles? We would give out 10,000 LED tea candles, a river of light streaming over the walkway.

And a guy named Hero, who has been central to a lot of facets of the occupation since the beginning, turns to me and says, “We need a bat signal. The 99%.”

via Interview with creator of Occupy Wall Street “bat-signal” projections during Brooklyn Bridge #N17 march – Boing Boing.

Police Crackdowns on Occupy Protests from Oakland to New York Herald the “New Military Urbanism”

An interview with Stephen Graham, professor of Cities and Society at Newcastle University. His book is “Cities Under Siege: The New Military Urbanism.” “What the Occupy movement is so powerful at is demonstrating that by occupying public spaces around the world, and particularly these extremely symbolic public spaces, it’s reasserting that the city is the foundation space for democracy,” Graham says.

via Police Crackdowns on Occupy Protests from Oakland to New York Herald the “New Military Urbanism”.

Occupy DC: one dimensional international politics

As seen today on McPherson Square

20111112-154724.jpg

Horizontal Politics & IR Theory

%d bloggers like this: