the new inquiry vol 30 hi

8/11/2019 The New Inquiry Vol 30 Hi

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The New Inquiry Vol. 30 | July 2014

The New Inquiry Magazine is licensed undera creative commons license [cc-by-nc-nd 3.0]

thenewinquiry.com

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R ob e rtI ndi a n a , T h e 3 - 0 ( D e c a d e ) ,1963 .Oil o n c a n v a s .M o r g a nA rtF o u nd ati o n ,A rti st sRi ght sS o ci et y(ARS) ,N e wY o rk


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Editor in Chief Ayesha Siddiqi

Publisher Rachel Rosenfelt

Creative Director Imp Kerr

Executive Editor Rob Horning

Senior Editor Max Fox

Managing Editor Joseph Barkeley

EditorsAtossa AbrahamianAaron BadyAdrian ChenEmily CookeBrian DroitcourMalcolm HarrisMaryam Monalisa GharaviWillie OsterweilAlix Rule

Contributing EditorsAlexander BenaimHannah BlackNathan JurgensonSarah LeonardSarah Nicole Prickett

Special ProjectsWill CanineAngela ChenSamantha GarciaNatasha LennardJohn McElwee

Editors at LargeTim BarkerJesse DarlingElizabeth GreenwoodErwin MontgomeryLaurie Penny

Founding EditorsRachel Rosenfelt, Jennifer Bernstein, Mary Borkowski


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ESSAYS

6 T H E L O V E S O F O T H E R S B Y H A N N A H B L A C K

1 0 V E R N A C U L A R C R I T I C I S M B Y B R I A N D R O I T C O U R

1 6 T H E E N D O F T H E W O R L D A S W E K N O W I T B Y W I L L I E O S T E RW E I L

2 2 FAC T- C H E C K ! B Y ATO SS A A R A X I A A B R A H A M I A N

R E V I E W S

2 7 L I T T L E O R P H A N N E L L I E B Y L A U R I E P E N N Y

A R E V I E W O F N E L L I E B LY, A R O U N D T H E W O R L D I N S E V E N T Y- T W O D AY S A N D OT H E R W R I T I N G S

3 1 T U R N D O W N F O R W H AT B Y M A L C O L M H A R R I S

A R E V I E W O F R O B I N M A C K AY, E D . # A C C E L E R AT E : T H E A C C E L E R AT I O N I S T R E A D E R

3 8 N O L I F E S TO R I E S B Y R O B H O R N I N G

A R E V I E W O F M A R K A N D R E J E V I C , I N F O G L U T

WW

2012.WalterKonigBooks


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FIVE years ago, we s ar ed he New Inquiry ory o work hrough he general problem o nding ormso expression adequa e o our experience o he presen .Since our incep ion, we have ried o nd ways o os erand promo e wri ing ha didn simply reproduce hemodes o ei her mains ream commercial publishing oracademia, he wo dominan ins i u ions or legi ima ingcri ical hough abou he world. Te momen when heirhegemony began o crack was he momen we began.

his issue is a depar ure or us. We have a new ed-i or in chie , and so also a new singularly ocused pub-lisher. Weve welcomed new edi ors o he eam. And soas we move in o a new i era ion o he New Inquiry, we wan ed o mark his momen o change and re lec on who we s ill are.

For he pas 29 volumes, our issues were loosely

organized around a single heme precari y was rs ,hen you h, and so on. Anchoring he issues his way, wehough , would allow us o presen a more complex viewon a subjec han any single essay could offer. Tis issue,however, has no heme; i s a jus a collec ion o essays by wri ers lis ed on our mas head.

While planning or his issue during he long win er, we joked ha July would be he Swimsui Edi ion, unsure

o wha ha would mean. Nobody ac ually wan edpho o shoo or analyze he nexus o misogyny an journalism or atemp some hing like a beach readle he name behind. Bu as he issue came oge hecame clear here was a sense in which i would hap , in ha we chose o showcase NI edi ors andproduced an essay ha serves as a revealing por ralarger body o work.

ead oge her, he essays in his volume addrecardinal problems he New Inquiry atemp s o g wi h: gendered wri ing and he women who chalechnosocial accelera ion and i s discon en s, reacmessaging in mass cul ure, he ar and publishinand heir ri uals, love as a problem, surveillance aapps and neoliberalism. Essen ially: how can weourselves, despi e wha con rols expression?

Wi hou a heme, i s harder o indulge in pearance o de ini ive answers. his mon h, weing orward he open ques ion o wha couldour dispara e sensibili ies. Well go back o oularly scheduled programming in he upcoming m(Sneak preview: Augus s magazine heme is Bu or now, we hope you enjoy he unad Volume 30.

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6 THE LOVES OF OTHERS

HOW o alk abou ha hing or experience orli es yle or belie known as he couple?

Here is one way. In i s heyday a he ime o he developmen o he ameni y-laden one- amily home, he

couple as encoun ered in he me ropoli an wes ancul ural expor s also priva izes daily needs in o a uni . Emo ional, ero ic, and prac ical requiremecondensed o a bare minimum, as efficien as a d

Te Loves of Others

By HANNAH BLACK

You don have o be a couple o par icipa e in he couple orm. In ac here is no hing else o do.


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HANNAH BLACK

ki chen. I is he mos reduc ive, exclusionary, and precari-ous imaginable me hod o mee ing he probably universalneed o eel close o and recognized by o hers.

Never heless he couple domina es he imaginaryrealm o love, so much so ha people who are no in cou-

ples are described nega ively in rela ion o i (single, di- vorced, e c.). In i s he erosexual orm, i s a pa riarchalhorror movie: Women are more likely o be atacked orkilled by a par ner han a s ranger, and many are nanciallydependen on he same men who s a is ically, i no ac u-ally, hrea en heir lives, and even more so i hey have chil-dren. Despi e he limi ed achievemen s o eminis s rug-gles, he s ruc ure o s raigh coupledom s ill represen s anappropria ion o he physical and psychic energy o wom-en o bene men. And inso ar as gay people re-crea e hes raigh couple, his s ruc ure o violence, domina ion, andemo ional pauci y is wha hey are re-crea ing. Wha everBeyonc says abou no making a big deal ou o he li -le hings, marriage is no more he logical ull ex ension osexual desire han prison is he u mos expression o shel-ering rom a rains orm.

How should I alk abou he couple? Here is ano her

way. I ell reciprocally in love when I was 24 and we s ayedoge her or jus over a year. When we me I hough he

was weird looking; hen I hough he was unny and smar ;hen I hough he was he unnies , smar es , mos beau i-ul person in he world. We said, in erchangeably, hingslike, I wan o marry you, and I could look a you or-ever. Tis was he expression o a eeling be ween us; likesummer aches wi h he premoni ion o win er, roman iclove aches s upidly wi h hwar ed inni y. Tere is onepar icular day we spen oge her, having sex and swim-ming in he sun, ha years la er is s ill my shining imageo e erni y: I could live happily inside ha day orever. Imoved o a new coun ry and in o his apar men . Un or-una ely i urned ou I had no concep o love ou side o

wha I could physically eel. So he logic o sex ex endedo encompass he whole rela ionship, by which I mean he

con usion o pronouns and body par s, o wha s m yours (yours because i s par o you/yours becpar o me bu belongs o you, e c.). A one poinso deeply inves ed in our physical connec ion his ered i as a ain dis urbance when we a e differ

rom each o her. I used mysel in o ha couple asI could, because i seemed like he mos radian li e, because I hough ha by being a couple I cou break rom being mysel .

(I s kind o gross o alk abou his rela ionshis way, o s uff i in o hese gluey sen ences. Ms ranger o me now, and he lives wi h his girl riendkid. I eels bad ha I s ill invoke his reali y o makseem more real o mysel , bu my excuse is ha his an abs rac ion and atens wha ever is ound inHis accoun o our ime oge her would be differemine, o course, and I don hink he would have son o wri e i .)

When I was a couple, I would say hings only here were someone else in his rela ionshiphing would be ne. I hough his imaginary hson would be beter able o bear he demand o be

en , presen , alive o yoursel and o he o her. I hey would dis rac us rom how inep I was a relove, like a hapless car oon charac er wi h eyes swWho, me? I could no believe anyone had beeenough o all in love wi h me; I was ull o gra eemp and con emp uous gra i ude. In he end he ihe couple, he praxis o he couple, was oo big,

were oo small, and also he o her way round. Wup and I moved back o London, disorien ed by good I had no wan ed o ea alone s uck in my hroor mon hs I had o orce mysel o ea , mechaniche cold glow o wha el a ha poin like he purelogical will no o die. Pared back o he mode o I realized I had become a couple beter han I hohad become a couple so success ully ha I had ohow o be a person. And ever since hen I have b


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8 THE LOVES OF OTHERS

ul enough no o ge wha I wish or. Never since haveI shared a diges ive sys em rom mou h o asshole; onlyrarely since have I said, wi hou hinking, some hing like,I wan my dick in your mou h.

Bo h rejec ions and affirma ions o he couple areskewered on his doubleness: I is he ulles expression o

love and proximi y available o us, and i bears all he insu -ciencies o presen social rela ions. Monogamous roman-ic commi men , like in allible li elong atrac ion o onlymen or only women, is surely a minori y endency expe-dien ly eleva ed o a general social principle. Bu knowingha isn enough o undo he power o ei her. Te couplerepresen s an un orgivable priva iza ion o love, bu re us-ing i doesn necessarily make love any more reely avail-able. Despi e he effor s o radical groups and he braveryo marginalized communi ies, i mos ly remains he caseha in urning away rom couple- orm love, we are urningoward no hing. Te hope or mirage o kindness amongs rangers, o love among riends, is a war wi h he in en-sive amiliari y o roman ic love.

How o alk abou couples? Bu I am always alkingabou hem. In he park sprawled in he sun we signal

in imacy by picking over he de ails o our love like or people o ell me how hey me heir par ne were a a par y. Tey sa nex o each o her in clas were a a bar. Al hough roman ic comedy perceivwis o daily li e as a po en ial mee -cu e, how-we-ries are prety repe i ive. Tey are adorable (or ann

i you eel ha way) because he emo ional signihe encoun er so ar exceeds i s de ail. Tey are enl

by mild peril: Wha i hey hadn gone o ha paror college or ci y? A he same ime heres no hina s ake a all. Any o hese couples migh easily me , and had hey no me each o her, each woulme someone else, and ha would have been a looo. How-we-me s ories each us wo hings: (1) Ycould have been comple ely differen , and (2) incase, i would have been in many ways exac ly Any hing could happen, bu less han every hing d

Falling in love is mean o be unexpec ed anorma ive. I jus ell in love is, especially he

wield i , an unparalleled excuse or all sor s o shavior. Bu love as random even is no really c ble wi h love as dura ion. Te couple domes ica


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HANNAH BLACK

happens ance o love in o he everyday; love in he ormo he couple urns i s ace agains acciden , and lives byhis re usal. As Germaine Greer amously no es inTe

Female Eunuch , Securi y is when every hing is setled, when no hing can happen o you; securi y is he denial

o li e. Bu or many people, especially women, especiallyimpoverished women, denying li e is he only way o haveone. Overall, he couple seems o endure mainly nega ive-ly: breakups are pain ul, being alone means youve ailed,good sex is hard o come by, he world is a scary place,e c. Tose couples whose love survives on he gen le basiso shared affec ion and in eres s migh be inspiring exam-ples o emo ional heal h, bu on he o her hand heir ad- van ages over people wi h, say, a close circle o riends, aremainly legisla ive.

Te rs couple I encoun ered were my paren s, who were oge her or 10 years. Tey were beau i ul, roubledand emo ionally irresponsible. Tey were wen ysome-hings wi h small kids how had ha happened? One ohem was a black man and he o her was he child o a Ho-locaus survivor, so hey rea ed he amily as a provisionalarrangemen , or a drag per ormance, or a his orical irony.

In he evenings one o hem would smoke weed and lis eno records and he o her would pain her oenails and alkon he phone. Some imes she hough he was going o killher, and I guess he could have, bu he ac is he did no .Te seismic regis er o heir argumen s and reconcilia ionsand he inaccessible mys ery o he desire be ween hemregula ed my early childhood. I shel ered in he in rica eimaginary world I shared wi h my bro her. Perhaps we were a kind o couple, oo. All he men I have loved remindme o him in some way; one even shared his bir hday.

I ailed a being a couple, bu you don have o be acouple o par icipa e in he couple orm. You can wa chmovies abou couples, you can lis en o songs abou hem, you can wa ch hem uck on he In erne . In ac here isno hing else o do. Tere mus be a secre sympa hy orsecre correspondence be ween people ha mimics or ex-

ceeds or sub ends he global correspondences secommodi y produc ion. Or maybe jus because weemerge rom amilies, we carry he amily inside gially, as he ascina ion o he couple. O herwiseknow how i is ha roman ic love endures as an

even as i ails as a prac ice.Broken-hear ed and sick wi h jealousy las s

I obsessively imagined he person I loved hensex wi h his new par ner. I was delirious wi h hee rable ru h and he o al obscuri y ( o me) o h be ween hem, some imes almos high on i , somnausea ed. Lying in bed in he haze o hese houried o con rac my heigh ened powers o imaginainclude more mundanely no my ex-lover in a dis bu he driver o a passing car, whose hands on hseemed jus as mys erious as he hands o he ploved ouching someone else. All hese hings seshine rom inside he win mys ery o separa enesympa hy how we are some hing o each o her, anno hing; some hing o each o her, bu no every hhe news a ha ime a video was circula ing, o Matemp ing o endure he ube eeding inic ed on

oners a Guan namo, and I experienced a poin lsincere sympa he ic pain in my sinuses. Te prinche couple love as privacy s ands in opposi ion ologic o his ain pain, which belongs o a swamp sensa ions are ransmited across lives. In my crasaw his swamp clearly, he inverse o he couplcouldn live here ei her.

Wha remains o a couple when i s gone? collec ion o souvenirs: phrases, images, sensa ionragmen s persis long a erward, as vivid as hey aple ely and radian ly meaningless, as i hey were s will one day reveal heir secre s. Some imes he rinclude a child or wo, and some imes hose childrup and have o be wha hey are. Bu al hough heis he primary image o love, he couple is no all is, and so hese ragmen s are no signs.


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10 VERNACULAR CRITICISM

BOYFRIEND says ha i sa litle silly o review a museum like PS1 because i hasso many ro a ing pieces/exhibi ions, wri es Yelp userSaskia S. in her ve-s ar review o MoMA PS1, a con empo-rary ar cen er in Queens. Boy riend voices he s a us quo:eviews o museums should reec heir ro a ing offerings,

which means ha he appearance o reviews should beme ered by periodicals he daily newspaper, he mon h-ly magazine whereas a Yelp review si s in online s asis,

which is a litle silly. Ano her sub ex , which Boy

perhaps oo poli e o say aloud, is ha he high reo wha museums do is bes addressed by he proal cri ics who wri e or hose periodicals, ra her husers such as Saskia S.

Te accumula ion o Yelp reviews over ime iso es ablish he repu a ion o a local business hausers wouldn o herwise know abou or know hink o . Te repu a ion o a museum, on he o her

Vernacular Criticism

By B IAN D OI COU

Te mos in eres ing place o read abou museums is Yelp


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BRIAN DROITCOUR

is es ablished a priori, by he ac o i s s a us as a museum.Museums are landmarks. When Im on Manhatans UpperEas Side I don open Yelp o nd a good local museum ocheck ou I open i o nd a place o ge lunch a er goingo a museum here, which is he only reason I ever go o he

Upper Eas Side. And ye Yelp reviews o museums can be insigh ul,

color ul, or s range (or, in Yelps own nomencla ure, unny,use ul, or cool):

However, i seems ha he ar work seem o cura ednei her chronologically nor harmonically wi h o her work,May Y. wri es in a hree-s ar review o he Me ropoli anMuseum o Ar ha bris les a i s encyclopedic miscellany.I el like as i I were in a large eld wi h differen pa cheso owers around me.

Being asian w/ o e bag n ar s uden id a he Whi -ney during a Yayoi Kusama show el like a ag wi h morehan 2 pho o ags on pa rickmcmullan.com wearing all

black harem pan s n rick owens. Valeriana S. wri es in heirhree-s ar review o he Whi ney Museum o American Ar .Aniwai, Im sor o on a die off processed ood n aminisar , so he majori y o my in eres was spen on spoting

ashion s uden s (who will use Yayas ar as inpira ion orheir nex assignmen designing a collec ion) n coun ing #o ar lovers wearing do s.

I never really hough much o Chris inas World (by Andrew Wye h), wri es Gre chen P. in her ve-s ar reviewo he Museum o Modern Ar . Ten I saw i live and inperson and i hi me. In a ci y where so many people moverom he coun ry o make i , where he emacia ed ribs ohe 1930s s ill show in spo s, here is Chris ina. Her worldis polio and he ground in rural 1940s (al hough i mighas well be 1930s) America. Wha s rikes me is ha his is wha I con empla e as Im riding an eleva or. I s jus a weirdplace or an impor an piece o ar . [] Ten again, ha salso why I now like i . No pomp, no circums ance. I jusexis s and nex o an eleva or is where i does so.

Even reviews ha don de ail responses o ar offer

rank ac s abou he bodily experience o being in um ha pro essional cri icism ends o omi . Onceinside I would ei her use he eleva or or he s airs he way up o he op level. S ar your visi a he hen walk down, wri es Nicole P. in a hree-s ar r

he Guggenheim Museum a prac ical piece o advicappears in many o he Guggenheims reviews.

Carrie Mae Weems ins alla ions saved my visi ! However, I didn unders and why hey chosher video pieces in a narrow hallway wi h high voc, wri es Honore F. in ano her hree-s ar reviewGuggenheim. Also i hey are gonna run or longeminu es I do hink here should be a bench or he and hose wi h physical limi a ions.

Exhibi s are hidden in rooms and here are no direc visi ors. I was in ormed ha signs are aesly ugly and I should wri e a leter o express my o wri es Iris S. in a hree-s ar review o MoMA. observa ion. Womens ba hrooms don have ampchines. I was old ha i s because i looks ugly!

Yelp reviews like hese are a reminder ha mend o subjuga e concerns o he viewers body o

like sigh lines, he produc ion o meaning hrougposi ion, he in erac ion among isola ed works o museums and heir cura ors, he social space pr by he peoples encoun er wi h ar works, or he na body in be ween i s encoun ers wi h ar , are seco

In his way, many Yelp reviews con ron hneered homogenei y o he museum experience, hdardized condi ions ha Brian ODoher y, an arcri ic, wro e abou in Inside he Whi e Cube. In hese ess writen in he 1970s, ODoher y describes he orubiqui ous gallery archi ec ure and offers a cri iqu whi e cubes rans orma ion o he viewer in o a pha spec ral organ o cogni ion designed or he bodiprecia ion o ar .

Te abrup ly in ima e accoun s o subjec ive rience in a museum ound on Yelp de y he whi e


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bloodlessness even i all hey do is address mundaneconcerns abou a bodys movemen in space.

Im no a big museum an bu I do enjoy work o ar , wri es icca .

I have o admi some hing, begins Nadia Z. in herve-s ar review o MoMA. I been pos poning museum reviews or some ime now. Te grandiosi y o NYC ar mu-seums in imida e me. How you review some hing ha noonly he league on i s own, bu ever-changing wi h bigger-han- ime-i sel exhibi s as well? Bu alas, I am going o ryand learn o y here.

Yelp does a lo o hings, including a number hingsha make people ha e i . Bu one hing i does is providea pla orm or vernacular ar cri icism, a differen kind o wri ing abou ar and he public spaces where i is seen. Vernacular cri icism can rejec he guidelines se by cul-

iva ed ar is ic as es, or i can guilelessly speak rance o hem, or in i s naive ascina ion wi h hinadver en ly expose heir alseness. Vernacular cis an expression o as e ha has no been ully ced o he as es cul iva ed in and by museums. Vercri icism inscribes bodies in public spaces ha woerwise erase hem.

I yelp. Ive writen over 100 reviews on Yelp, ao hem abou museums and galleries. O her Yelhave ound my reviews use ul (305 vo es), unn vo es), and cool (198 vo es). I know wha i s likehe window on Yelps page o compose a new rehave Yelp ask me o quan i y my experience o a choosing a number o s ars each wi h i s correspo

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BRIAN DROITCOUR

in erjec ions. One s ar is eek! wo is meh. Tree is A-OK! Four is Yay! Five is Woohoo!

A riend gave me a -shir she ound in a hri s oreha says I [Yelp logo] Yelp modeled on he I [Hear ]NY design. Ins ead o a hear i has Yelps logo, which

migh be described as a sunburs or a blooming ower.Im no exac ly sure how o iden i y i , bu i s sugges iono an ou ward explosion hrough a nea and s ylized ormseems o approxima e Yelps quan i a ive ra ionaliza ion ohe burs o eeling ha moves me o wri e a review here.I wouldn say ha I love Yelp. Bu I migh say ha I [logo]i . I [logo] Yelp says less abou how I eel abou Yelp han wha I do or i I spill my gu s, I blur my as es, I le hem by coun ed, branded, averaged, mu ed, processed in o acrowdsourced s amp o (dis)approval.

I wri e abou ar on Yelp. I also wri e abou ar on o h-er websi es or in magazines in exchange or money, and Ive been doing ha since 2005. Im no an ar his orian. Ivenever s udied ar his ory, which rom a dis ance looks like a bleakly s uffy eld, concerned wi h ques ions o inuenceand provenance ha s ake ou an au onomous puri y orar and i s mediums, ha disengages hem rom social or

cul ural his ory. Cri icism, as opposed o his ory, appealso me as a prac ice o inscribing ar in li e. Im an ar cri ic,and some people have said Im he rs ar cri ic on Yelp.Ta s no rue, o course. I o her people hadn writen arcri icism on Yelp be ore me, i never would have occurredo me ha i was even possible.

Like mos people, I had been using Yelp mainly ond ou abou res auran s, bu in January 2012, when I wassearching or in orma ion on Ai Weiweis exhibi ion o mil-lions o porcelain sunower seeds a Mary Boone Gallery,he op resul on Google was a our-s ar review on Yelp, byLisa Jane C. During my visi , many people were mesmer-ized by he seeds, which are beau i ul, she wro e. Eachone is unique, jus like people.

I don hink ha las line especially s ruck me hers ime I saw i , bu when I read i again now I realize i

con ains he seed o a heory o aes he ics whose preasier o imagine hanks o Yelp one ha begins whe erogenei y o as e, a o ali y o dissensus expresubjec ive accoun s o a bodys experience a a uniqin space and ime. Somehow I recognized Yelp as

rom he homogenei y o voice and s yle ha I s r wi h in wri ing or pro essional publica ions: he alure o academic exper ise applied o paraphrase hs a emen or gallery press release in a more au ho way, all wi hin he limi ed word coun available or

And so I s ar ed o yelp.In some ways, being a yelper isn all ha

rom being an ar cri ic.Te ar cri ic ge s paid so litle he may as well b

ing or ree, like he yelper does. An ar cri ic who gives Jeff Koons a nega iv

is like a yelper who gives one s ar o he Olive Gamarke has already made up i s mind and ins i u ioncy ollows. Te ar cri ic con ron s his consensus ano express an independen , individual opinion in i a hankless ask. Te ar cri ic doesn change he worlds sys ems o power; he simply gives hem

by reminding readers ha hey exis . So i is wi h h who accumula es language around a s ore ron or a

Mos ar cri ics he ones wri ing or specialize journals, where mos ar cri icism oday is oundle more han mimic he academic discourses o arand ar heory, o en poorly, as hey apply hem o sins ances o ar making. So i is wi h he yelper, wlitle more han mimic, o en poorly, he vocabulas yle o marke ing and journalism.

Te more he ar cri ic wri es he more peoplaten ion o heir name, o heir opinion, even hhese opinions have no effec on he landscape o

world, he mechanisms o he marke . I he ar cri ienough reviews, hey will be invi ed o gallery where cri ics are served ree ood and drinks, an wi h Yelp i you yelp enough, your accoun is des


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Eli e, your reviews are eleva ed o he op o a businesspage, and youre invi ed o atend Eli e even s where yelpersare served ree ood and drinks.

Te Yelp Eli e are people who wri e leng hy, chaty,mos ly posi ive reviews, and or my rs year and hal o

yelping I held he Eli e in scorn hese users were ools,ins rumen alized by Yelps promo ion o i s brand iden i-y. I didn hink I wan ed o be Eli e or ha I would evenhave a chance, wi h only a ew dozen reviews under my belcompared wi h he hundreds on he proles ha boas edhe Eli e badge. Bu las Oc ober, a er pos ing a par icular-ly ecs a ic ve-s ar review o Friedrich Pe zel Gallery, a Yelpcommuni y manager invi ed me o join Yelps Eli e Squad.

So I did, and I s ar ed o atend Eli e even s. By hispoin , my accoun had received some ins i u ional andmedia recogni ion, and so I was curious o es reac ionso my accoun rom people ou side he ar world. Wouldhey hink i was unny, or novel, or s upid and annoying,like people in he ar world did? When I alked abou io Amaryllis S., rom As oria, Queens, she said she didnhink my accoun was all ha differen rom hers, whichhas hardly any reviews o res auran s, ocusing ins ead on

service-orien ed businesses, like salons. Jando S., Yelpscommuni y manager or Queens, old me abou a guy inMiami who reviewed only s rip clubs, and hey were allhorough reviews, regardless o whe her he s rippers weremen or women, which Jando ook as a sign o rue commi -men . Te s rip-club exper had resis ed Eli e s a us wheni was rs offered, because he hough his ac ivi y on Yelp was oo narrow, bu he even ually came o erms wi h hisown eli eness. In shor , my ocus on museums and galleriesdiffered litle, in he eyes o he Yelp Eli e, rom o her re- viewers aten ion o salons or s rip clubs.

Teir opinion would probably be endorsed by PierreBourdieu, who in Dis inc ion: A Social Cri ique o he Judg-men o as e uses sociological da a o argue ha he heoryo aes he ic judgmen proposed by Kan in he 18 h cen-ury as a descrip ion o a universal human condi ion is, in

ac , par icular o he class in eres s o he bourgeoismy ellow members o he Yelp Eli e, Bourdieu cho gran ar special s a us, o recognize i s dis inc ioo her pursui s. Te disposi ions which govern choiween he goods o legi ima e cul ure canno be u

ders ood unless cul ure, in he res ric ed, nosense o ordinary usage, is reinser ed in o cul ur broad, an hropological sense, and he elabora ed he mos rened objec s is brough back in o rela ihe elemen ary as e or he avors o ood. as e is

bodied, sensory experience one ha origina es in and ouches he world wi h he ongue. Bu i is alsoo a number o social abs rac ions ha manage i , rize i , and build wha Bourdieu calls a magical bainguishing legi ima e cul ure hrough he skilleo iden ica ion and decoding, dis inc ions reprodeduca ion and cul iva ed over ime.

Te museum lives behind such a magical barripower s ruc ures o Yelp he hierarchy o service per and users, algori hms o use ulness, adver isinno hing o do wi h he museums power, and so Ysmash i s magical barrier. Yelp pu s museums in o

beled wi h heir names and addresses where any be said abou hem, he same as any o her busines

THE museum is a echnology o public lilike he public sphere, i began o acquire he ormso us now in he 18 h cen ury.

Bo h museum and public sphere were born ogeois revolu ion he museum qui e li erally; hemodern museum, he Louvre, was conver ed rom in o a public collec ion o ar by decree nine days French monarchy ell.

Bo h acquired signicance as vehicles o boideology, a worldview ha did no displace arisas es and values so much as i worked o make heable, o presen hem as a way o li e ha anyon


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BRIAN DROITCOUR

aspire o approxima e, imagined as so universally appealingand good ha no one wouldn wan i .

Bo h served as vessels or he bourgeois u opian ide-al o meri ocracy he mos ra ional and reasonable ideas will win he approval o an in ormed socie y hrough heir

dissemina ion in he public sphere; he bes works o ar will edi y he public in he museum.

Social media is ano her, newer echnology o publicli e, one so young ha i s hard ye o say wha purpose iserves. Bu i s easy enough o see ha i doesn coincide wi h he purpose o hose older echnologies o public li e, because he resul s o i s con ac wi h hem are so o enunny, s range, or unnerving he kooky commen s onnewspaper websi es, reviews o museums on Yelp.

Social media is no a degrada ion or improvemenon he public sphere. Tough owners o mass media haveatemp ed o ranspose he logic and power o he pub-lic sphere o social media, i never comes ou qui e righ .Social media is ur her rom he public sphere han i isrom he old world o leters, diaries, albums, conversa-ions wi h riends he priva e sphere laid bare in publicli e, wi hou subordina ion o he social abs rac ions ha

govern he dissemina ion o ideas in he public sphere(excep , o course, or he ones ha users have alreadylearned and in ernalized).

Tere has been a lo o specula ion abou whe heror no social media can measure ar is ic meri or anymeri hrough likes, avori es, reblogs, re wee s andso on. Bu he conversa ion ends o be limi ed o hepo en ial o hese me rics o measure quali y, wi houacknowledging ha such a process o measuring con-s i u es an atemp o merely democra ize he meri-ocracy. Tis o ally misses he po en ial o social mediao accoun or he plurali y o as es ound in he world.

And so he coun ing o social-media aten ion is alwaysunsa is ying hese me rics give a unied coun o ev-ery hing whose sums mean no hing.

Yelp as well as Amazon and o her review si es

shoehorn as e in o me ered ra ings, bu hey also da rs -person expression o as e. Tey ask he user cri ic wi hou demanding he pas labor o cul ivahe o her social abs rac ions imposed by he public

Meanwhile, he public sphere regularly produ

i orials bemoaning he dea h o exper ise i s owndea h. Food and movie cri ics are ca ching up wcri ics, who have been alking abou he crisis o hession or abou a hal cen ury. Te crisis o ar crihowever, did no originally come rom he encromasses he hos ile arcana o he avan -garde heldoff long enough bu ra her because o a hyper roar marke , whose mone ary consensus renders cmoo , and he pro essionaliza ion o he ar world, hprograms ha each ar is s o develop cri ical appraheir work or marke ing purposes, so ha i apppublic wi h an already de ermined his orical signTa seems like sufficien indica ion ha cri icismslems s em rom i s own pro essionaliza ion.

Te early ar cri ic re ained some hing o heeur, wri es Jrgen Habermas inTe Social rans orma ioo he Public Sphere. Lay judgmen was organized in

ou becoming, by way o specializa ion, any hing he judgmen o one priva e person among all o heul ima ely were no o be obliga ed by any judgmenheir own.

Yelp is no he answer o cri icisms problemown i can rans orm cri icism, or museums, or hTe reviews o museums here may eschew he ac jargon o ar wri ing and bourgeois biases o as e, end o replace hem wi h he clichs o marke ing

ver ising he regis er o a commercialized public spound in Yelp reviews o res auran s, s rip clubs, or

And ye Yelp could help rese he erms o acism, as an environmen where he judgmen o oneo hers no obliga ed by any judgmen excep heirnewly resh, and where his judgmen is hones ly suand con ingen , as as ed by unobliga ed bodies.


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16 THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT

WHEN we hink apocalypse, we end ohink o he u ure. Accordingly, he apocalypse seems oshow up on lm only in he realm o sci- or, occasional-ly horror. Bu while every single hair on he roting scalpo zombie cinema has been analyzed under bloods ainedmicroscopes, a new subgenre has been emerging ha wields he po en hough o he end o he world o even

more reac ionary ends. I uses he rope o apocalprojec curren power in o he u ure by si ua ing caphe and i s overcoming in he pas . Tese movie voice o he blind ha red o he disgrun led agen slapsing empire.

Tese lms span a number o generic regis ersanima ed kids movie o big-budge summer prod

Te End of the World as We Know It

By WILLIE OS E WEIL

Ancien Apocalypse lms use he pas o projeca reac ionary presen in o he u ure


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WILLIE OSTERWEIL

Youve probably seen one:300 , Noah , Gladia or , TeCroods , Cen urion , e c. Tese are he Ancien Apocalypselms, and hey have opened up whole cinema ic erri oriesor a ar-righ heory o erminal crisis o play in.

Tese lms differ rom he his orical epic or he

sword-and-sandal lm primarily by heir o al disin eresin elling a rue s ory rom his ory. Even when he sourcema erial is biblical, he lms don s ay close o heir ex s.Ins ead hey are se in various ancien pas s mos ly orhe ac o heir ancien ness, heir dis ance rom he cur-ren momen . Ta ancien ness allows hese lms o en-er he space o he my hological ra her han he purelyan as ic or he his orical. Tis my hological space makesa world-ending even appear like i was based on a rues ory wi hou geting caugh up in ques ions o chrono-logical soundness or cul ural or poli ical specici y.

Te s ory o he Ancien Apocalypse (wi h sligh varia ions), is as ollows: Tere is a subna ional socialgroup: a ribe, ci y-s a e or amily, living, i no happily, aleas in s abili y and rela ive peace. Ta group receives aprophecy o a coming apocalypse. Te prophecy provesrue almos immedia ely, hough i re ers o he end o he

worldonly inso ar as i is he end o he group as curren lycons i u ed, he end o he groups orms o li e, he groups world. Tis end is violen , sudden, and comes rom heou side, in he orm o na ural disas er, oreign hordes, orrival groups wi h beter echnology al hough i s effec sare exacerba ed by in ernal decadence, corrup ion, weak-ness, will ul ignorance, and/or be rayal.

Te lms dura ion is hen mos ly aken up wi h pre-paring or and passing hrough a series o physical and emo-ional rials precipi a ed by his apocalypse. O her groupsmus be con ron ed and overcome, and he pro agonis sgroup will be hinned. Ul ima ely, he willed group iden-i y which draws rom he groups primary uni y bu issharpened and in ensied by he experience o some com- bina ion o loyal y, shared physical s ruggle, he erosexuallove, mu ual ha red or or disgus wi h an enemy group or

he shared experience o be rayal allows (wha s lhe group o pull hrough and ei her de ea heir ensurvive heir rial. Vic ory and survival, howmean he dea h o all he groups individuals. As logroup is projec ed orward in o his ory via my h,

physical monumen , survival is assured.I his sounds i his would make or a erribl

ie plo , well, youre righ . Te vas majori y o A Apocalypse lms are, a er 15 o 45 minu es o selong boring s rings o ac ion sequences. Long s rinion sequences are he bread and buter o Hollywcourse, bu hese lms, lacking much o any hinga narra ive o survival, have really long ones. Tey bru al, as -cuting, and inelegan edi orial s yle. Teare domina ed by ex reme ligh ing and a dour palecomba is incredibly graphic wi hou really beinging, sloppy and ungrace ul wi hou being bru ally

And i s no jus he s yle or he narra ive: Ilms he audience isn asked o rela e o he proor heir group hrough empa hy or sympa hy. Teac ers generally aren kind o each o her, and he d wi hin he group is one o compe i ion and hierarc

solidari y or love. (In Apocalyp o andCen urion, he main ernal drama is who is he as es runner; in Pompeii anGladia or, i s who is he bes gh er; in300 andScorpi King, i s whose leadership and au hori y is he moe c.) Ins ead, you are mean o iden i y wi h he grospi e i s in ernal unpleasan ness, because you, likear oppression by a ye more unpleasan and ha ed

In hese lms, he audience sees an apocalyhas no only already happened bu was, in ac , heional momen or socie y, he bir h o some e ernalo he presen . I is no ha he charac ers move on brigh and happy u ure: In he mos reac ionary olms, he pro agonis s all die reec ing, perhaps, hcidal drive o ascism, which sees he o al sacriindividual or he produc ion o an omnipo en annal group as i s pla onic orm o poli ical ac ion.


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collapse o he socie ies pic ured is jus he end oa world,no he world. Tese lms reec , in heir muddled and idi-o ic way, a recogni ion ha he end o empire could jus behe end o a cer ain orm o li e, and ha par icular socialorma ions presen wi hin empire will ou las i s par icularpoli ical or economic arrangemen s, up o and includinghe exis ence o na ion-s a es or capi al. Tis is wha makesmany o hese lms more han jus conserva ive or reac-

ionary bu righ -revolu ionary: Tey imagine a undamen-ally over urned world in which he poli ical and economics ruc ures are des royed bu curren orms o social orga-niza ion ( he an i-black racial order, pa riarchy, mili arism)are s reng hened in he process o heir ending.

Tis is mos obvious in he only Ancien Apocalypselm ha provides some hing o her han pure resen men

o ge you hrough:Te Croods (2013).Te Croods ischarming dadven ure abou a hree-genera ional acavemen who believe hemselves o be he las huear h and have survived he violen a e o all hei boring amilies by adhering o high-in ensi y sacedures and paranoia hey hide in a cave closed a boulder every sun down. Li e or he Croods is bare survival, day- o-day s ruggle wi h no o her

Bu when a young man appears who knows howduce re and ells hem ha he world is ending, w world s ar s ending. Te ground li erally collapses bheir ee . Te amily has o ake a long journey inmoun ains ( oward omorrow) during which hhas o learn o give up some o his pro ec ive role amilias and embrace bo h he echnological inn


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WILLIE OSTERWEIL

(umbrellas, re and orches, animal domes ica ion, whis-les) and domes ic uncer ain y (going rom living in onepar icular cave o being nomadic) o he younger genera-ion i hey are o live happily in heir new world.

Because i is a kids movie, he Croods don drench

hemselves in he blood o heir groups enemies: Ins ead,hey s ruggle agains he world i sel . Wha hrea ens hemis na ural disas er, ear hquake and lava, and prehis oricmons ers, including a gian bird-ca -dinosaur. Compared wi h o her Ancien Apocalypse movies, he groups in er-nal ha red and compe i ion is signican ly oned down.Despi e pa riarch Nic Cages ro e misogyny, he lmends wi h all o hem loving one ano her. Te lm is nohe no- u ure suicidal parable ha mos o he o her An-cien Apocalypse lms are bu a sor o neoliberal u opianproposi ion echnology, openness o change, plus heamily can ge us hrough an apocalypse. I has be ore.

Te Croods even ually arrive a a ropical paradise oplen y, ar rom he arid cave where he movie begins. Te young girl (who is os ensibly he pro agonis , al hough i sreally he dad) is named Eep, which sounds an aw ul lo

like Eve. And in he nal happily-ever-a er monCroods have basically inven ed leisure hey race gian dino-ca s, hey sunba he in lawn chairs, ake vaca ion pho o, e c. Tey go rom being crea ures vival o ones o leisure and only he apocalypse a

such a rans orma ion o occur.Bu whileTe Croods pic ures a happily-ever-a e

res o he subgenre ends o be much bleaker. Te poi y o an ever-a er a all is as happy a u ure as here iorward o. LikeTe Croods , hese lms offer up a sesurvival echniques o ace apocalyp ic dissolu ioi arism, xenophobia, he amily, becoming-my h which are sufficien o le heir pro agonis s escades ruc ion. Drama ic irony lls in he res . Te au wa ches hese lms rom a posi ion o grea his orance: Tis apocalypse happened and his is our pahough jus who ha our is is qui e obviously ahese s ories o racial, ribal, and na ional supremac

Noah screenwri er Ari Handel, when askedhe decision o use all whi e ac ors in his lm, eha his s ory is unc ioning a he level o my h,a my hical s ory, he race o he individuals does

er. Teyre supposed o be s and-ins or all peopleaking whi e people as he model or all people

whi e supremacy is. By connec ing i o my h, Noah makranshis orical a par icular, con ingen , and racisPar o he appeal o his my hical whi e-supremaco lmmakers is ha i seems o jus i y he alreads andards o Hollywood cas ing. Te his orical narraGreeks a war wi h Persians allows he300 lms o cpeople o color exclusively as villains, lms se iome o cas black people only as slaves, and so on

Likewise, in all hese lms, a ribal, amilial group is shown o have inna e quali ies ha mark elec ed or survival. In Pompeii , he hero is he las Celslaved by ome, who is apparen ly racially predisphorse raining and riding, embodying hese skills evehis ribe was wiped ou be ore he could ormally lea

In all theselms, the mostconsistent traitis horror atbeing in society,the nightmare ofthe socialin general


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Te survivor, in his way o hinking, ac s as an embodied his orical experimen , whose survival is neverarbi rary nor based on previous social power or privi-lege. Survival is a resul o some hing inna e, gene ic, orracial, which is necessarily amplied by a riumph o he

will. Ta s why in so many o hese movies ( Apocalyp o , Pompeii , Gladia or , Cen urion , 10,000 BC , Year One) hepro agonis s are enslaved members o an oppressed ornearly ex inc race or ribe. In all six o hese lms, how-ever, we wa ch he pro agonis become enslavedand also see hem escape heir slavery. Slavery in hese movies las sless han one genera ion. Te real his orical and poli icals ruc ures ha produce slavery capi alism, colonialism,imperialism are made invisible in avor o a concep iono immedia e physical s ruggle. Slavery is pic ured as an ar- bi rary and momen ary hing, he mos ha ed possible si -ua ion and ye also qui e easily en ered in o and overcome. And i i is so easily over hrown, hen surely real his oricalslaves mus jus no have wan ed o gh enough, or maybe jus had no been made o he righ s uff

IN all hese lms, perhaps he mos consis en raiis horror a being in socie y, he nigh mare o he socialin general. In any scene in which people are in he pub-lic sphere rom drinking in a avern o mass poli icaldecision-making he crowd is pic ured as disgus ing, weak, violen , blood hirs y, ignoran and cowardly.

In Noah , when Noahs son Ham leaves he Ark build-ing si e o go o he nearby encampmen , he nds a ribecannibalizing i s own members on an open marke place.Tere he enjoys he only momen o enderness be weens rangers pic ured in he en ire lm: Ham com or s a er-ried, mu e, and grime-covered girl in a ravine ull o dead bodies. InGladia or , Pompeii, and Passion o he Chris hecrowd appears only so i can beg or bloody spec acle, cry-ing ou or he violen dea h o he lms pro agonis s. In Pompeii , 300 , and300: Rise o an Empire , some orm o

popular poli ical con rol is pic ured a leng h, in odismiss i as undamen ally corrup , corrup ing, aec ive. InCen urion , Noah , Apocalyp o andTe Scorpio

King , meanwhile, he appearance o a s ranger al ways means a gh o he dea h.

Ta hese lms all depic socie ies as beyond wor hy only o o al over urning hrough des ruc i veals bo h he revolu ionary endency wi hin apohinking and i s o en genocidal charac er. Tis is read in hese lms a populis belie in he rue propempires collapse, bu o recognize in hem a sharegy o response o collapse.

Te subgenres lms are devo ed o he ormaa righ -revolu ionary subjec . No every audience hears he call, bu ha should no lead anyone o igeffec iveness. Te way ra boys, German Neo-Nazis aUkrainian separa is s meme ically adop ed300s aglTis is Spar a! and ormed weigh and comba rgroups inspired by he lm, and he way Chris ian va ives held mass screenings o Passion o he Chris indca e ha hey unders ood he lms exac ly as hesupposed o as calls o poli ical ac ion.

Te le ends o hink o he revolu ionary righla ionship o crisis as equally oppor unis ic as i s or he le , crisis is no ac ually a momen o undachange wi hin capi alism bu ra her reveals he rueo capi al and he s a e and can be used o organizeingly, hen i some imes assumes ha he righ dsame. Te righ is seen o use economic collapse up resen men , ha red, bigo ry, and na ionalism oduce alse consciousness as a way o explaining hra her han per orming a s ruc ural analysis o caps a e, race, class or gender. By blaming collapse oal decadence or weakness caused by an in ernalhidden in plain sigh wi hin he na ion, he righ pes o rein roduce order and jus ice by coming oand puting said popula ion in i s place. Ta popumigh be governmen bureaucra s and eminis kil


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WILLIE OSTERWEIL

i migh be Jews and immigran s, bu he unc ion o hapopula ion is always he same.

While some righ -wing par ies, par icularly in Europe,do ake his rela ionship o crisis, a differen orm o righ - wing poli ics is reec ed in Ancien Apocalypse lms. Like

much o he le , many on he ar righ have moved beyondhe par y as an organizing s ruc ure and rejec he concepo coming o power by cap uring he s a e. Tey ake he im-minen collapse o capi alism (a leas as i is curren ly con-s i u ed) more seriously han anyone on he le : Tey seeempire on i s dea h bed and hey hunker down, s ar ga her-ing guns and making lis s o riends and enemies. Tey hopeo save he ideological underpinnings o empire even i i spar icular his orical orma ion is doomed. I s par isans begino murder police in broad dayligh , mar yring hemselves insuicidal con ron a ions wi h he s a e o inci e o hers o ba -le preparedness. All socie y needs is a litle push, hey hink.

Tis analysis mus be rejec ed because o i s racial,ribal, and na ional supremacism, because o i s homopho-

bia and misogyny, because i imagines ha suicidal ven-geance is enough, because i rejec s li e in avor o a dea hreied orever hrough my h or progeny. Bu i i ails

because i is excessively ribal and small-minded, i alsoails because o a universaliza ion: Tese lms (and heirpar isans) imagine ha he apocalypse is imminen , hai will happen o everyone a once, wi hin one genera-ion and across he en ire y o a civiliza ion. Bu hey ail orecognize he ways in which apocalyp ic collapse is alreadyhappening bu is dis ribu ed unevenly across popula ions.Te apocalyp ic collapse o he world o he rs na ions o America con inues as a lived s ruggle or ribal lands andradi ions oday. Clima e apocalypse already has claimedhousands o vic ims, rom he poorer residen s o heockaways o he Car ere Islanders o Papua New Guinea,

who have had o ee heir ances ral home as i will be ullyunderwa er by he end o nex year.

Perhaps even more undamen ally, however, hesemovies ail o unders and he ac ual his ory o he con-

cep s hey hope o pro ec . Disgus a he social in he amily orge s (or never knew) ha he amily iso he social in he rs place. Tis is why his poli imy hical represen a ion over his orical s ory ellinare necessarily an ihis orical, based on an ac o

ical ai h (in he amily, physical valor, ribal purirom which every hing else emerges.

And here, nally, we encoun er apocalyp iciani y. Te Book o evela ion, he Chris ian ex oapocalypse, promises a heaven on ear h bu onrigh eous holy jus ice is brough o he worlds and unbelievers hrough cen uries o he mos deing and nigh marish hell. Unlike mos o he Newmen , which joins miracles o ai h wi h moral andprecep s embodied in Jesuss ac s and parables, o evela ion is almos en irely made up o imageolence and suffering. An a heis could heore icame aphysical and moral ru hs rom he res o heBu he apocalypse wi hou ai h in a second co jus a bunch o nas y shi mul iheaded mons ers, pre, and ear hquake wi hou a poin or a happy enO course, evenwi h ai h in such an even ual heave

apocalypse is a prety vindic ive s ruc ure o belieTis is rue o Ancien Apocalypse lms as w

hough hey are all decidedly non-Chris ian. For hoou a deep ai h in reac ionary orms o group ormalms reveal wha yearning or apocalyp ic survivaluppance ac ually is: a celebra ion o ha e, prejudicdesire or dea h. Wi hou a belie in a u ure uni y-inor he secular image o a pos -apocalyp ic u opiaapocalypse cul has o look orward o is i s sel -immola iin he cleansing and murderous dis ribu ion o jus

An apocalypse produced by collapse, by goma e change, in ernal con radic ion or nuclear bomnever provide heaven on ear h. Tose who eagerly or he apocalypse in order o survive i will mano die o survival. I we are o live, we canno me

vive his empires apocalypse. We will have o be


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22 FACT CHECK!

BRIDES magazine has a ac -checker. Shedoes hings like veri y he cos o honeymoons and makessure ha Vera Wang did, in ac , design ha dress, and com-pares he cap ions on win er ower-bouque slideshows wi h pic ures in bo any re erence books. I would be er-

rible o mis ake a eucalyp us pod or a mere pussyMany American magazines, rom rashy

y weeklies o highbrow general-in eres journaac -checkers o some sor . I worked as one in

when, wi h hree o herHarpers in erns, I ac -checked

Fact Check!

By A OSSA ARXIA ABRHAMIAN

Vigilan e ac -checkers only conrm our cynicism abou he news


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ATOSSA ARAXIA ABRAHAMIAN 2

magazines Index rom beginning o end. Being he pri-mary speaker o oreign languages in he in ern cubicle, Iended up doing a lo o he in erna ional checking or hemagazine. Percen age o ussians who say one goal o U.S.oreign policy is he comple e des ruc ion o ussia: 43.

Number o Iraqi s ray dogs ha Opera ion Baghdad Pupshas helped emigra e o he Uni ed S a es since 2003: 66.

I quickly learned ha ac -checking is a predomi-nan ly American phenomenon. Te French don do mucho i , mos ussian papers cer ainly don ei her, and evenhe Swiss possibly he mos exac ing and precise peopleon he plane do no make use o ac -checkers in qui ehe same way as Americans do. Ye heir presses keep roll-ing, and heir readers keep reading, and heir brides s ill buy roses, i by ano her name. People even rus he pressin Swi zerland much more han hey do in he U.S.: 46percen o Swiss people said hey had condence in heirnewspapers and magazines in 2010. Among Americans, i was only 25 percen .

While ac -checking, aHarpers and elsewhere on areelance basis, I ound ha I spen nearly as much ime ex-plaining o people abroad wha he hell a ac -checker is as

nding he ac s hemselves. I was requen ly assumed hamy mo ive, qua checker, was no accuracy bu maliceha I was ou o ge someone or o prove some hing wrong.Te exchanges ha ook place be ween me and my sourcessounded a lo like a descrip ion in Adam Gopniks Paris ohe Moon, where Gopnik recoun s a poli ician asking himi a ac -checker is like a heory checker ha is, i he young woman siting in her imes Square cubicle would be grilling him or in ellec ual consis ency. Tere is a cer-ain y ha ac checking is in ac a complica ed ploo one kind or ano her, a way o en orcing ideological co-herence, Gopnik wri es. Ta here migh really be ac s wor h checking is an obvious and annoying absurdi y: i would be naive o hink o herwise.

Gopniks poli ician and he con used oreigners onhe o her end o my line weren qui e righ . Te exis ence

o ac s can easily be argued agains in an epis emcon ex , bu no o en in a journalis ic one. AHarpers , leas , i really was abou making sure he numbersly o her peoples numbers added up. And rankly, ac -checkers Ive ever known jus didn wan o be

sible or inaccuracies.Te people Gopnik ci es were never heless

some hing. A new cul ure o ac -checking is ein he U.S. one ha s much more aggressive haac -checking o he pas . Enabled by online da a anma ion and encouraged by a polarized poli ical diac s and especially a lack hereo are being wielike weapons. We don ac -check because we lo We ac -check because we ha e liars.

WHITHER he ac -checker? s ar ers, heres he pursui o ru h and knowledall else ha is good in he world. Tis isn as squiidealis ic as i sounds. I know many wri ers wpro oundly moved by he ac o ac -checking, anound i o be a revela ory, i depressing, experie

more han one case, I came across an en ire nery based on a misin erpre ed s a is ic. S ill, i wabsurd o claim ha he abundance o ac -checkhe U.S. can be explained because Americans as

value accuracy more han he Japanese or he Fr would also be very hard o veri y.

Tere is an under-explored nancial reasoac -checkers. Published errors no only look bad,der cer ain circums ances, hey can lead o lawsuiare very expensive indeed. I spoke o a media lawold me he Na ional Enquirer employs i s law rm,liams & Connolly (o Pen agon Papers ame), as hmary ac -checking opera ion. I heyre willing ha kind o money o carry ou asks more commonga ed o in erns and philosophy majors, consider hhe po en ial li iga ion.


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24 FACT CHECK!

Ten heres he hird reason: poli ics. Increasingly, or American readers, here are no mis akes, only cover ideol-ogies. And ou o necessi y, V ne works, newspapers, andsome magazines have bough in o his men ali y wholesale,serving up laborious platers o air and balanced o con-

sumers who lack he will and perhaps also he capaci y oengage in any cri ical analysis o he in orma ion hey areed. Tey compe e wi h one ano her on he errain o ac-curacy and neu rali y. And i is because he U.S. mediais so obsessed wi h i s own so-called objec ivi y ha pred-

a ory checking an offshoo o he radi ional checking innewsrooms and magazines has domina ed he discourse.Checking is no longer jus a link in he edi orial sausage ma-chine; i is an in egral par o he public poli ical discourseand a x ure in American popular cul ure. An army o pro-essional and ci izen ac -checkers have aken he processou o he newsroom and in o he open.

Tis new wave o checkers wha he New Yimes public edi or amously called vigilan es aeren rom he edi ors and aspiring wri ers a newsand magazines who silen ly bulle proo he s orimagazines publish (Pe er Canby, he New Yorker s head

ac checking, has acknowledged ha checkers aguished only by heir mis akes.) Te vigilan es woa very differen goal. Teyre guerrillas; hey live oo ca ch heir enemies a heir mos vulnerable moand o parade heir heads around on a s ick, desmugly: un ru h!

Te pa ron sain o his new ac -checking sis Craig Silverman, who runs a blog urnedregretheerror.com, and has a column on Poyn er.o verman calls ac -checking he new American and is a serious and measured commen a or: He genuinely concerned wi h seting he record s raig wri es a leng h abou he impor ance o accuracy nalism and he effec i has on public in orma ion. (above calling people lying liars, hough.)

Fac Check.org, which is run by he AnnCen er, is ano her somewha serious opera ion h

haus ively ni picks poli icians s a emen s. In heFac Check.org are ABC and heWashing on Pos s onlac -checking opera ions. Finally, heres Poli iFacno orious ru h-O-Me er, a digi al graphic used as ru h can be measured wi h he same ins rumen yoin o a chicken o make sure i s reliably ree o saIn la e 2011, Poli i ac was embroiled in a microscandinvolving i s lie o he year. Te lie in ques ions a emen made by members o he Democra ic pa epublicans vo ed o end Medicare. Tis s a emenPoli i ac , was a comple e exaggera ion: epublicanly wished o priva ize he program.

Poli i ac did no hing o clari y he probleac , i made hings worse. Even a er he si e a PuPrize winner! decided ha Democra s had been egregiously o he public or an en ire year, peo

We dontfact-checkbecause we

love facts. Wefact-check becausewe hate liars


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ATOSSA ARAXIA ABRAHAMIAN 2

disagreed, largely across ideological lines, abou he se-man ic problem o whe her or no ending Medicare as wecurren ly know i could be described as ending i , period. As a resul , Poli i ac began o be regarded as siding wi hepublicans. Brillian .

Unsurprisingly, media innova ors (are here ever nomedia innova ors?) are rying o ge pas he problem opar isan checking. ru h eller, one o he apps up orconsidera ion in he Knigh News Challenge hopes o cap-ure, analyze, and ac -check even s and speeches as heyhappen.

One o he bigges complain s abou poli ical cover-age is ha i allows un ru hs o go unchecked, reads heproposal. ru h eller ins an ly dices he rhe oric and callsou s a emen s ha do no reec reali y. Te app aims ogo beyond he capabili ies o humans by using an algori hmo parse poli ical speech in real ime and de ermine seman-ic in en and con ex ha would be compared o he newsorganiza ions da a and Wikipedia. Tis would resul ina live video displaying he ru h level o a speakers sen-ence, along wi h reac ions rom witer an ul ra-ul ra-high- ech ru h-O-Me er ha wee s.

Even i you value ru h, i s easy o be discouraged by reading hese ac -checking blogs. Teir mo ive is asound one os ensibly, heyre here o veri y ha pub-lished work and public s a emen s are correc . Bu o whaend? Can you convince a rabidly par isan public ha hes a emen s ha have been hammered in o heir heads arealse? I his sor o preda ory ac -checking were ac uallyeffec ive or any hing bu spor , a grea number o pol-i icians would be ou o business by now. Call i check-ing or he conver ed, or debunk- ainmen : Te one oi is smug, no in orma ive. Tis brandishing o ac s isalso a ga eway o laziness. Why produce hough ul andcoheren cri iques when you can jus wield ru h-by eslike weapons? Gopniks heory checker would serve ahigher unc ion in comba ing he lazy narra ives o main-s ream news han a hundred correc ed ac oids.

UNTIL recen ly, he de ensive/ radi iand offensive/vigilan e sor s o ac -checking rareured on o one ano hers ur . I wouldn make anor a checker a a magazine o draw aten ion o

mis akes she ound in a soon- o-be published ar i vigilan es jus don do quie . Bu in he later mo2012, a cona ion o behind- he-scenes bulle proodir y-laundry exhibi ionism emerged ha spoke o er cul ural shi in he way we hink abou ru h.

Te Li espan o a Fac , a book based on (bu ,urns ou , no accura ely conned o) a series o exc

be ween au hor John DAga a and ac -checker Jimcame ou in November. Te book is an ex ended aion o an essay ha DAga a wro e or he ap lyBeliever magazine ha deals loosely wi h he suieenager in Las Vegas in 2002. Li espan draws atehe radi ional ac -checkers role in he publishing

And hrough Fingal and DAga as dialogue, i hhe ension be ween he role o he ac -checker aclaims o he ar is .

I he ac vigilan es sugges an ou er limi o

vela ory powers o accuracy, DAga as will ul ignsuch s andards provides he opposi e limi . Ar isac s do mater. As i urns ou in Li espan, DAga a gen , lazy, sel -cen ered, and has no respec nor rehis audience. When Fingal ells him as much, DAcuse or every hing is merely ar by which he meahe number nine sounds beter han he number eighi s okay o lie o readers abou how many seconds eenager spen alling o his dea h. a her han akiin erns sound advice, DAga a spends a grea deal explaining ha he isn a journalis bu an essayis his is enough o libera e him rom he prosaic cono reali y. So i s ting ha a mon h la er, DAga a bpunchline in ano her scandal: Mike Daiseys.

I was hard o ignore he Daisey asco, bu or o clari y, le us recap: Daisey, a monologis , gave


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26 FACT CHECK!

45-minu e per ormance abou his experience a he Fox-conn plan in China. He called i Te Agony and Ecs a-sy o S eve Jobs and broadcas i onTis American Li e omassive acclaim. During he monologue, Daisey describedmee ing underage workers, poisoned workers, maimed

workers; he claimed o have gone o a mee ing o a secre workers union in a Chinese S arbucks. People believed hismonologue o be rue, mos ly because i was presen ed as

such, and by ha ime, heimes and o her inves iga ionshad conrmed ha all hese hings were happening a someime or ano her. Te problem was ha Daisey hadn seenhem himsel . He was crea ing a composi e o beter drawaten ion o his cause.

Drama ensued.Tis American Li e dedica ed an en ireepisode o essen ially shaming him. Te episode en i led, e rac ion served as ca harsis or public radio, or Ira

Glass, or anyone whos ever been misled or whosrus ed he media. I is no hing less han excrucia ing

brea hed hrough his mou h audibly and paused or riods o ime be ore answering Glasss ques ions. Gook on an uncharac eris ically s ern edge.Tis American L

could have reac ed differen ly making a s raigh os a emen abou he inaccuracy o Daiseys repor , ipress release, banning him rom he premises bu inTis American Li e hea rically burned Daisey a s ahough o say: Don ha e he lie ha e he liar.

I makes sense ha public radio ook such asive approach: i has o en been a or i s perceived bias. Bu his kind o lashing ou agains inaccurachan dealing wi h i in a as e ul and direc mann

become i s own orm o hea er.Tis American Li ehaano her good reason o own he mis ake. Tey riac -check Daisey be ore he piece came ou ano ca ch errors he had planned his lie oo well, buma ely no well enough.

Many commen a ors have said ha i s imposac check someone whos de ermined enough o news in he rs place, and wi h limi ed ime and r

dedica ed o he opera ion, heyre probably righ will always be pa hological liars in all par s o li ege away wi h, and even make a living off o aonly o be exposed la er on in a urn o karmic jus

Bu he problem wi hTis American Li e-s yle re roive ac checking is ha i doesn ocus on he acselves: i gives undue aten ion o liars or mis aken reconrming all our cynicisms abou he news whileempowering whoever uncovered he error. In he don learn abou he ac s. We learn abou he peopdon care abou he ac s. Fac s become weapons,s ory rarely deepens. And wors o all, i won makiseys and Kellys o he world disappear. Well jus khey are, where hey wen , and wha hey lied abou

Tis brandishing of

facts is a gatewayto laziness.Why producethoughtful,coherent critiqueswhen you can justwield truth-byteslike weapons?

Tis essay was originally published in March 2012


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LAURIE PENNY 2

IN 1893, he celebra ed repor er Nellie Bly weno visi Emma Goldman in prison. Te young anarchisprovoca eur was held in he rs Manhatan jail o be calledhe ombs; i was buil on he wreck o an old swamp ands ank o ro and eces. Te wo women had bo h grown upin pover y and obscuri y, and ound ame, i no or une, by wri ing abou he condi ions suffered by women and

he working poor. Bu while Bly was lauded or circling heglobe in only a e ching checkered raveling cloak, Gold-man was locked up or inci emen o rio .

Bly was one o he only journalis s o show Goldmanany sympa hy and he rs o unders and her impor anceas a cul ural gure. In Blys piece, Goldman is permited ospeak her ru h a leng h, along wi h some girly cha abouclo hes o he rivolous sor ha Goldman would never

have s ooped o in her own wri ings. Tese are he ha never make i in o he mani es os bu nevermake he poli ics a hundred imes more human.

Te repor er men ions Goldmans precocalen she is barely 25 and lis s he six languagescan speak and wri e. We are invi ed o be impressBly comes o he mater o marriage and whe her

man believes i o be a universal good, he ul imao a womans li e:

I was married, she said, wi h a li le sigh, when Iscarcely 17. I su ered le me say no more abou haI believe in he marriage o a ec ion. ha is he onlrue marriage. I wo people care or each o her he

have a righ o live oge her so long as ha love exi When i is dead wha base immorali y or hem s illkeep oge her! Oh, I ell you he marriage ceremonya errible hing!

REVIEW

Little Orphan NellieBY LAURIE PENNY

Nellie Bly was he rs girl repor er, bu as he excep ion,she was always playing by someone elses rulesNellie Bly, Around the World in Seventy-Two Days and Other Writings. Penguin Classics. 2014.


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28 LITTLE ORPHAN NELLIE

No coun erargumen is offered, or even en er ained.Bly agrees wi h Goldman bu canno say so direc ly. o doso would no have been in charac er, a leas no he char-ac er as whom she made her living.

Some people seem born o break down walls. Nellie

Bly was born Elizabe h Jane Cochran in Pennsylvania in1865. She was he 13 h o 15 children and, ollowing heearly loss o her a her and her mo hers remarriage o andscandalous divorce rom a mean drunk, she s ruggled o ndeaching work. Her rs break in journalism came when shesen an excoria ing leter o he Pitsburg Dispa ch , respond-ing o an ar icle abou Wha Girls Are Good For mar-riage, mo herhood, and obscuri y, according o he originalcolumnis , whose name is los o his ory. I girls were boysquickly i would be said: s ar hem where hey will, heycan, i ambi ious, win a name and or une, wro e Bly, hen20. Ga her up he real smar girls, pull hem ou o hemire, give hem a shove up he ladder o li e, and be amplyrepaid. She signed her leter as Orphan Girl.

Te edi or, George Madden, was so impressed hahe offered her a job. Because womens wri ing was consid-ered unseemly, Madden decided ha Cochran should have

a pen name. He ook Nelly Bly rom a mins rel song: a whi e man bes owing a whi e girl wi h a name crea ed by a whi e man or a c ional black serving girl. From he s ar ,Cochran now Bly was caugh be ween he s ories men wan ed o ell abou girls and he s ories girls would ell orhemselves, given he chance.

Bly is now remembered less or he s ories she wro ehan he s ories ha sprou ed up around her. MaureenCorrigan no es in he in roduc ion o he new Penguinedi ion o Blys collec ed journalism ha Nelly Bly has become a headline, no an au hor. Her emaleness isphrased now, as i was in her day, as a ascina ion; he ed-i orial urni ure, nea ly preserved in he Penguin edi ion,sells her in he manner in which Vic orian circuses mighadver ise a raveling reak show:See his Young Girl Wri eHard-Hiting-S ories Jus Like a Man!

Bly racked up a lo o rs s in her me eoric Jus a year a er being hired by he Dispa ch , she had or New York, where he rs mass-circula ion new

were being prin ed, wangled a job a heWorld , and maher name wi h s un repor ing. She was o beco

mos celebra ed repor er o her age, a a ime whenalis s did no expec o become household nam was also he rs decoy o allow he pa riarchal prereally good abou i sel or allowing a litle woman big boys club.

Gonzo journalism is now read as a macho urn up somewhere ripped and s oned and undeand immerse yoursel in a cul ure or prac ice, he viscerally, rom he brain and he gu . In ac , womdoing i rs . Bly was jus 21 when she go hersel ed o Blackwells Island Insane Asylum o repordispiri ing condi ions suffered by he inma es he bea ings, he s arva ion, he cold. Her ea ure in hWordrew public aten ion o he pligh o he men ally in he U.S. and led o some limi ed re orms.

From he s ar , Bly is a na ural wri er. Her vcaus ic and conden , lil ing effor lessly be ween

and priva e wonder o a schoolgirls diary and hehe mos celebra ed poli ical repor ers o her ime. a celebri y, working a a ime when a revolu ion ipaper echnology had coincided wi h a surge o in womens libera ion. She was he righ ace or ime. Te ac ha she was also remendously alenhe li erary and prac ical cra o journalism was he whole poin and somewha beside i .

By he ime she headed ou on her in amous he-world dash, atemp ing o circle he globe inhan he 80 days described in Jules Vernes novelalready amous. S rong Men Migh Well Shrink FFa igues and Anxie ies Cheer ully Faced by Tis American Girl, cries her home papers repor , pin his edi ion, describing how he wind ruffled B young cheeks. Bly made her deadline and was g


29/46

LAURIE PENNY 2

cheering crowds in New York. Te resul ing column series, which became a book, is no abou he world a all. a her,i s abou Nellie Bly, he mannish young woman, he my h. We hear more abou he ou s she was wearing han herimpressions o he na ions she glimpses ou o he dining

cars o cross-coun ry sleeper rains.Te round- he-world dash is by ar he weakes par

o Blys oeuvre as presen ed in he Penguin collec ion. Fora s ar , he speed a which he young repor er is ravel-ing means ha she barely has ime o speak o anybodya all or o dig in o he esh o a place as she does in herundercover work. She is uterly ocused on bea ing hesel -imposed deadline, as i o miss i were o sacrice hercare ully buil credibili y. Bly sees he coun ries she visi smos ly hrough rain windows and he por holes o ships,and she ske ches he people who ac ually live here inhas y and o en racis carica ures.

As a young provincial repor er, Bly wen o Mexicoand wro e wi hou sen imen or s ereo ype o he livesshe saw here. In our shor pages you ge he s arknesso inequali y, he as e o a resh or illa, he gen leness os rangers. Te women, like o her women, some imes cry,

doub less or very good cause, and he men s op o con-sole hem, she observes.

On her ound he World rip, Bly has no ime orsuch nuance. Te inhabi an s o Aden, hen a Bri ish colo-ny, are simply black people o many differen ribes andlitle naked children who ran a er us or miles, ouch-ing heir oreheads humbly and crying or money. Talanguage, like Blys legend, is dressed in an ou o pa ri-o ism. She is always ha Plucky American Girl who candash around he globe, roting ou he has y racial s ereo-ypes as well as any puffed-up Bri ish colonial officer.

Te mains ream press has always been a reacherousrough o drink rom. As her career con inues, you can eelBly gh ing or ma uri y in her work agains a clima e ha wan s one hing rom her and one hing only: her own s o-ry. She s ruggles o shake he wide-eyed exci emen o he

precocious girl-essayis a i s proper ime. I s as be h Cochran, he anonymous Lonely Orphan Giring o wri e her ru h, bu Nelly Bly, celebri y repcovering her mou h. Her s ruggle wi h persona pon he page. In he decades a er her re iremen , Ne

was writen abou in books, augh abou in schoomemorialized in songs (she appears as a side chahe radi ional Frankie and Johnny, which was

by Elvis). Un il now, hough, almos nobody bo hread her ac ual work, a leas no in a sys ema ic waken a cen ury or Blys journalism o be collec ed

Blys zeal o wri e abou he women he woailed, he women locked in madhouses, rappedmarriages and dead-end jobs in airless enemens ar ed early. Te s ories she wro e received spaceurn or a cer ain imposed sensa ionalism: Her give a measured inves iga ion in o he working young women in box-making ac ories in Manhapre-clickbai i le Wha I s Like o Be a Whi e Slmore Bly s ruggles o expose he condi ions o wohe poores par s o America, he more Blys edi oher as a ascina ing rinke . No only is she a young

who can spell; shes ac ually alking poli ics.Some o hese in erviews and essays are co

here under he chap er Te Woman Ques ion, plnea ly in o he no ion, as popular now as i wasury ago, ha here is only one. Bly had many dques ions abou women. She wan ed o know holived and worked, where hey were permited o ghey were paid so much less han men, no onlypro essions o which hey were slowly being ad bu in ac ories, elds, and arms. She wan ed why nobody was alking abou women excep aor drudges.

Te prison in erview wi h Goldman is no incin his collec ion, al hough i is among Blys neo poli ical wri ing. When Bly asks Goldman ( hes ar o a long, dangerous career o exile and ag


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30 LITTLE ORPHAN NELLIE

how she imagines her u ure, he poli ical prisoner ellsher: I canno say. I shall live o agi a e o promo e ourideas. I am willing o give my liber y and my li e, i nec-essary, o ur her my cause. I is my mission and I shallno al er. En irely unbo hered by no ions o journalis-

ic objec ivi y, Bly ies off he piece by calling Goldman amodern Joan o Arc.

Blys rebellion could be rehabili a ed; Goldmansnever was. In 1893, when hey could no vo e, leave heir

husbands, or own proper y, women could rebel oo much. You could be he excep ion o he rule as he rule remained in ac . Nellie Bly was no po become he wri er or he ages ha she migh vehave been. In he end, here was only one s ory

i ors were in eres ed in hearing rom her, and i whe s ory o he enemen boxmakers or womens sac ivis s. I was he all-American s ory o he lonelygirl made good.


31/46

MALCOLM HARRIS

COMMUNISTS are nosupposed o like capi alism. I heres one hing everyoneknows abou communis s, i s ha we don like capi alism.Capi alism, as described in he wri ings o Karl Marx, is anorganized sys em o exploi a ion in which he many laboror he pro o he ew. Capi alism akes human behav-iors and personal rela ions and shapes hem in o marke behaviors and marke rela ions, leveling difference and

originali y along he way. I is bad, and we are agains i .Ta s he Marxism or Dummies line, and or mos

in en s and purposes i s no wrong. Bu Marx has a morecomplica ed rela ionship o he capi al rela ion han hesusually given credi or. In Marxism, capi al is a neces-sary his orical phase ha displaces eudalism and rapidlyincreases human produc ivi y. Teres a con radic ion inhe code: Trough capi al, he amoun o labor necessary

or he produc ion o a given objec is indeed reduminimum, bu only in order o realize a maximumin he maximum number o such objec s. From dency, Marx deduces a way no ou buhrough capi alis

Te more his con radic ion develops, he more does i become eviden ha he grow h o he orces o producion can no longer be bound up wi h he appropria ion alien labor, bu he mass o workers mus hemselves apropria e heir own surplus labor. Once hey have donso and disposable ime hereby ceases o have an ani he ical exis ence hen, on one side, necessary laborime will be measured by he needs o he social indivual, and, on he o her, he developmen o he power social produc ion will grow so rapidly ha , even houproduc ion is now calcula ed or he weal h o all, dispable ime will grow or all. For real weal h is he deoped produc ion power o all individuals. Te measure weal h is hen no any longer, in any way, labor ime, ra her disposable ime.

REVIEW

Turn Down for What?BY MALCOLM HARRIS

In imagining a homogenized u ure labor orce, accelera ionism ignores how capi aloppor unis ically sus ains difference o surviveRobin Mackay, ed. #Accelerate: The Accelerationist Reader. Urbanomic. 2014. 448 pages.


32/46

32 TURN DOWN FOR WHAT?

Capi alism reduces he cos o being alive o a minimum, bu jus o shrink he workers slice as he pie grows. Even-ually hrough his process i becomes eviden ha heowners are parasi es, and he expropria ed expropria e heexpropria ors. I all his is he case, hen i logically ol-

lows ha we shouldn be rying o slow he expropria iondown, bu ra her we should atemp o speed he sys emoward i s inevi able doom. Tis dynamic is he premiseor he collec ion#Accelera e , new rom he radically oddpublisher Urbanomic.

S ar ing wi h Marxs Fragmen on Machinesrom which Ive drawn he quo e above#Accelera e isa chronologically arranged atemp a an accelera ionisreader. Accelera ionism is he bend o heory ha ol-lows Marx hrough Gilles Deleuze, Jean-Franois Ly-o ard, and he 90s Cyberne ic Cul ures esearch Uni(among o hers), concluding ha i s coun erproduc iveo ry o block capi als ows and ha revolu ionariesough o increase hose ows number and speed ins ead.Te collec ion draws i s hash ag rom a piece near heend, #Accelera e: Mani es o or an Accelera ionis Pol-i ics by Alex Williams and Nick Srnicek, which was ex-

raordinarily popular on Marxis social media in 2013all he more remarkable considering he mani es o hasno hing o do wi h ca s.

#Accelera e ( he mani es o, no he reader) was anin ernal memo o sor s o he Marx-inec ed le abouour rela ionship o echnology and produc ion. Te woLondon-based academics seek o redeem Marx as heparadigma ic accelera ionis hinker and argue ha ale poli ics ani he ical o echnosocial accelera ion isalso, a leas in par , a severe misrepresen a ion. A a ime when capi als mos prominen gures and rms claim o be he embodimen o echnosocial accelera ion, whenle is s are assaul ing people wearing Google Glass in hes ree , his is a con roversial posi ion o ake. We do no wan o reurn o Fordism. Tere can be no reurn o Ford-ism, Srnicek and Williams wri e, posi ioning hemselves

no so much agains as pas he 20 h cen ury bargween capi al and organized labor and deni elyhe deluded democra ic socialis s rying o keep hDeal dream alive.

I s oo bad ha #Accelera e and he reader i

aren writen or a general audience. Pos 2008 ecic crisis, Marxis cri ique has ven ured cau iouslyhe classroom and he movie hea er in o maineconomics. Nei her Keynesian liberalism or rke conserva ism has an adequa e explana ion he proceeds o labor are accruing o a smaller o pro eers. Marxism predic ed i , and more anpeople across and beyond he conven ional pspec rum are willing o lis en. Accelera ionism ares ora ion o he his orical Marxis projec ser bu i s s ill shaking off he men al shackles o aphilosophy, and i s proponen s lack he in eres , ror perhaps he abili y o communica e ou side asel -selec ed group.

As a mos ly 20 h cen ury academic reader,#Accera e includes some o he wors examples o selgen le academic rivoli y. We can rack he ev

o Anglo-French accelera ionism hrough he Fesec ion, which reads in par like a game o Marxphone on acid. Gilles Deleuze and Flix Guatariusion o Marx and Freud yields Lyo ard endorsino being ucked by capi al yields Gilles Lipove skhardy accelera ion o cri ique. Class s ruggle alhese accoun s, as he au hors arrogan ly pronouncapi als blender has abolished such dis inc ions.

Al hough hese pieces o wri ing are use ul s ruc ing a genealogy, I wonder wha purpose heaccelera ion i sel . I we are or echnosocial aion, hen surely one o he hings we can leaveis le is pro essors rom he 1970s who houghis impor an is o be able o laugh and dance.laughed and danced in o enure and home loannow here we are.


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hese divisions are wha lends capi al i s exibili y and en-durance, wha has allowed i o keep going despi e i s corecon radic ions. Capi al can afford o pre end race andgender don exis , and nei her can communis s.

Even hough i barely comes up in#Accelera e , per-haps he bes example o accelera ionis poli ical prac icepu gender ron and cen er. Wages or Housework was a70s campaign ha sough o bring womens unwaged do-mes ic labor under he wage rela ion so ha housewivescould s rike and engage in he s ruggle or ree ime. Iechnological innova ion can lower he limi o necessary

work, and i he working class s ruggle in indus ry can useha innova ion or gaining ree hours, he same canno

be said o housework, Mariarosa Dalla Cos a and Selma James wri e in he pamphle Te Power o Women andhe Subversion o he Communi y. o he ex en ha shemus in isola ion procrea e, raise and be responsible or

children, a high mechaniza ion o domes ic choresree any ime or he woman. I s a common mision ha capi alism simply means wages or laborhas used womens unwaged labor o bear he cos s ducing labor power across he board. As Dalla C

James wri e, he en ire class exploi a ion has beupon he specic media ion o womens exploi a io

How does capi al answer his demand? MuNegares anis ki sch Marxis , capi al disaggregBarbara Ehrenreichs 2000Harper s essay Maid oder, she looked a when capi alismdid s ar paying waor housework, rom inside he cleaning indus ryDalla Cos a and James wan ed o claim he wagecould rejec i , Ehrenreich wri es abou how whi eican eminis s argued o Congress no less ha payor housework would allow women o leave hor beter jobs ou side he home. Tey were righ , Ereich repor s, inso ar as here has been a decrease ens unwaged labor and an increase in womens pion in he waged labor orce. Bu par o ha incre

been per ormed by he women who come in o dhousework, and as moms become employers, he

decrease labor cos s oo. According o he Bureau o Labor S a is ics

are more han 1.4 million people employed ashousekeepers, and cleaners 1.3 million o hem en, and over 60 percen o hem women o colokind o labor is no oriously hard o measure, bureichs research sugges s ha in areas near he Uico border, only one- en h o paid domes ic labohe books. Te BLS pu s he yearly average housek

wage a $19,570, which is bo h below he pover ya amily o hree and no doub ina ed by underrepDomes ic workers wi hou immigra ion papers nlack he so-called pro ec ion o he law; heyre co vulnerable o depor a ion. So much or Lyo ardsaway wi h all privileges o place. As Evan Calde wri es, he days and bodies o humans are s ill a

Capital cantafford to pretendrace and genderdont exist. Tesedivisions are whatlend it exibilityand endurance


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MALCOLM HARRIS 3

er han any au oma ion, provided money knows where olook. And i always has. Whi e supremacy and he genderdivision aren archaisms ha capi al will puree in o a owo neu ered beige singulari ies; heyre labor rela ions,and in egral ones.

Capi alism doesn unc ion according o he philos-ophers universal erms or economis s or ha mater.I s a reckless s ruc ure, bu in predic ably circumspec ways. Te American criminal jus ice sys em which lib-er arians imagine capi alism could survive wi hou hasocusedmore on race as produc ive echnology has im-proved, incarcera ing blacks a an increasingly higher ra ehan whi es. Once released, he ormerly incarcera ed akea record wi h hem, one ha marks hem orever as a sec-ond-class worker, unable o demand he same wages andpro ec ions.

Accelera ionis s couldn predic his new Jim Crow because heyre always expec ing capi al o double down. In-s ead, he owners spli . Capi al is no only able bu requiredo main ain a hos o differen labor rela ions a he sameime. wo million (mos ly young, mos ly women) Amer-icans work in illegal unpaid in ernships. Black unemploy-

men is consis en ly wice as high as whi e unemploymen .More han 60,000 imprisoned migran s worked in U.S. ed-eral de en ion cen ers las year or 13 cen s an hour lesshan wo percen o he minimum wage. And ha s jus

wi hin he U.S. Who is us? isn jus a ki sch Marxisknee-jerk; i s exac ly he ques ion capi al asks and answersover and over a million imes a day in order o survive.

WHERE does his leave us communis s?Fires ones vision o a world wi h he ull achievemen ohe conceivable in he ac ual is crawling orward, hrea -ening o walk any day now. Teres no much analysis ospecic rms, innova ions, or individuals in he#Accelera e collec ion; he au hors display a s odgy Scrabble playersunwillingness o use proper nouns ou side ci a ions. I can

unders and no wan ing your philosophy o urn oas as popular In erne companies do, bu here aro being con emporary, and one o hem is shel lilyzing par icular moves and agen s can ell us moaccelera ing capi al han medi a ions on wha con

he human.In his piece abou he disrup ive ood sub

Soylen , Bhaskar Sunkara sees bo h he capi alis amunis po en ial. Soylen is a powder you add o wcrea e a hyper-nu ri ious shake. Te company claand so ar no one has re u ed ha people can subsiSoylen alone. I s a new produc and a major jumdirec ion Fires one envisioned: Imagine making hhing o he pas ! Imagine ood decommodied, a ro nu ri ion o hungry mou hs, whoever, wherev whenever hey are. Disrup ing s arva ion is a Silley we dream, bu i s never been he ood produhe problem. Ins ead, Soylen is more likely o lunch breaks. I we end up living in a world wherper second o kiss he nu ri ious gruel spigo , weor whom he Soylen pours.

Innova ions like his con inue o lower he c

geting workers rom one day o he nex . Te sheconomy, or example, is a communis -sounding he new economy based on people using heir goskills in common. Teres no need or everyone on o own a chainsaw, so i one neighbor owns one,go online and lease i o her neighbors. I s he samneighbors have always done, bu ra ionalized ansui ed or a popula ion ha s used o rela ions mhrough money. Sharing resources is ano her kindciency, so i can mean one o wo hings: pro oror ree ime or workers. I you don need o buy saw, you can afford o work a litle bi less or you co be paid a litle bi less.

Te line be ween dys opia and u opia is a hinSunkara wri es abou Soylen , and i s jus as ruhe sharing economy and Googles driverless ca


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MALCOLM HARRIS 3

line is he difference be ween smooching in he backseao a solar-powered robo car on your way o he beach wi h a cooler ull o syn he ic burgers, and beginning your workday on he cars in egra ed videocha , using hescreen as a mirror so you can wipe he unsigh ly glob o

Soylen rom your chin. As labor efficiency improves, haline be ween wha could be and wha is ge s hinner, all-er, beter pa rolled. Along wi h labor efficiency, ownersabili y o calcula e he divisions hey need o make in or-der o keep he sys em s able also improve, as does heirabili y o en orce hem.

We can see wha ha looks like in he accelera -ed U.S. clien s a e o Israel, where a echno

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