Identity politics differentiates; it draws distinctions to reveal social oppression or, in Butler’s terminology, precaritization–occupying or being held in precarious … More
Category: Social Protest
Luhmann and the body, updated
In a post from about two years ago, when I was still pretty new to Social Systems Theory, I discussed … More
The inclusion of the excluded
Judith Butler, in Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly (2015), argues that marginalized or ignored populations performatively establish “the … More
“The Future of Social Movements” paper
I presented this paper at the conference of the International Social Theory Consortium in Chicago, May 19, 2018. It still … More
Religion as function system?
Religion is usually considered one of the function systems of society; it is one of ten described by Steffen Roth and … More
Morality and Social Movements
There have been three great eras of social reform/protest in the United States—the 1830s (temperance movement, abolitionism, 1st wave feminist … More
Social movements and exaptation
As I wrote elsewhere on this blog, Klaus P. Japp has an chapter on new social movement in Problems of … More
The Antifascist Movement from a systems theory perspective
This post is related to a previous post of Charlottesville and morality. There is an interesting article in The Atlantic … More
Luhmann and Kenneth Burke
At a recent rhetoric conference in England, I started thinking about possible connections between Luhmann and Kenneth Burke. For rhetoricians, … More
Identity Politics and Functional Differentiation
What is the place of identity politics in a functionally differentiated global society? Identity politics often speaks of communities–e.g., the African … More
