Radical Potential Research Articles

The Scholastique Catechisme of Tristram Sugge: Reconciling Ecclesial and Monarchical Authority During the English Civil Wars

ABSTRACT This article introduces a new manuscript written in c.1648, A Scholastique Catechisme, Wherein ye Mysteries of Christianity are unfolded by way of Dialogue, by Tristram Sugge (1610–1661), a Royalist and episcopalian divine at Wadham College, Oxon. It is argued that the catechism’s primary function was to promote both monarchical authority and an episcopal Church independent of the monarchy. This is achieved through an innovative deployment of established arguments of patriarchal kingship, and the writing of it was prompted by Sugge’s fears of a religious compromise between Charles I and the Covenanters and/or Parliamentarians in the later 1640s. The Scholastique Catechisme offers an insight into the key concerns of Sugge’s milieu at this time, and is testament to the radical potential of Royalist Anglican thought.

This City Is An Archive: Squatting History and Urban Authority

Since the archival turn, archives have been widely portrayed as “dominating” institutions, which has led to even community archives being defined as “anti-authority.” It is the contention of this paper that this approach misses (1) the way in which DIY archives provide territorial authority for marginalized communities, and (2) the radical potential of such counter-narratives in seeing the city itself as an archive. Outlining both the role of archival authority in community archives and the use of an archival imagination in approaching the city, the paper considers possibilities for urban movements and campaigns, bringing together examples from the Resistance Project, 56a Infoshop, Advisory Service for Squatters, Occupy London, and the Remembering Olive Collective. An approach is forwarded which, in light of the participatory turn in archival studies, reframes the city as an archive, to encourage attentiveness to authority and to produce a capacity to aspire.

ACTION TIME

Our actions, even the quietest, are liable to become occasions for inculpation. But what kind of action would remain immune to the act of judgement? Such an action is made manifest in Michelangelo’s Moses. Freud’s cinematic reading of the sculpture yields a concern with what Moses does not do. Neither the origin nor the outcome of an action proves decisive but rather “the remains of a movement that has already taken place.” Such a remainder troubles the ascription of agency to action by undermining the fantasy of homogenous time which underlies it. Continuity is revealed as the semblance of an imperceptible series of temporal omissions. The paper aims not only to bring to light the radical potential harboured in Freud’s approach to the Moses but to account for the reason he arrests its appearance.

Becoming and Individuation on the Encounter between Technical Apparatus and Natural System

Becoming and Individuation on the Encounter between Technical Apparatus and Natural System

Equal pay for work of equal value, wage-setting and the gender pay gap

The principle of equal pay for work of equal value has radical potential but uneven application and impact. As one strand within the multiplicity of measures required to impede the reproduction of gender pay gaps, its strengths lie in an expanded notion of equality and capacity to challenge gendered norms embedded in wage-setting practices. Almost 70 years after the principle was given expression in the International Labour Organisation’s Equal Remuneration Convention of 1951, these strengths remain difficult to capture. This collection includes studies of advances and retreats in Australia and New Zealand, shaped by political and economic trends, changing wage-setting arrangements and varying interpretations of formal provisions. These are elaborated with examples of collective action that have redefined the problem of gender pay inequality and found pathways to redress gender-based undervaluation in the absence of a supportive regulatory framework. Studies of three East Asian countries extend understanding through stark illustrations of recurring barriers, highlighting limitations in legal expression, incompatibility of equal value measures with wage-setting norms, and the impact of highly segmented labour markets. Together the articles underline the need for interrelated reforms to formal provisions, wage-setting institutions and labour markets, and the importance of ongoing mobilisation to drive change.

The People vs the NHS: Biosexual citizenship and hope in stories of PrEP activism.

Discourses of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) revel in its radical potential as a global HIV prevention technology, offering a promise of change for the broader landscape of HIV prevention. In 2018, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) aired The People vs The NHS: Who Gets the Drugs?, a documentary focused on the 'battle' to make PrEP available in England. In this article we explore how the BBC documentary positions PrEP, PrEP biosexual citizen-activists, as well as the wider role of the NHS in HIV prevention and the wellbeing of communities affected by HIV in the UK. We consider how biosexual citizenship (Epstein 2018) is configured through future imaginaries of hope, and the spectral histories of AIDS activism. We describe how The People crafts a story of PrEP activism in the context of an imagined gay community whose past, present, and hopeful future is entangled within the complexities and contractions of a state-funded health system. Here, PrEP functions as a 'happiness pointer' (Ahmed 2011), to orient imagined gay communities towards a hopeful future by demanding and accessing essential medicines and ensuring the absence of needless HIV transmissions. This biomedical success emerges from a shared traumatic past and firmly establishes the salvatory trajectory of PrEP and an imagined gay community who have continued to be affected by HIV. However, campaigns about the individual's right to access PrEP construct the availability and consumption of PrEP as an end goal to their activism, where access to PrEP is understood as an individual's right as a pharmaceutical consumer.

Rethinking the Right to the City: DIY Urbanism and Postcapitalist Possibilities

Lefebvre’s “right to the city” concept is often used to describe how individuals are challenging late capitalism and neoliberal development by appropriating urban space for collective use. While some argue that DIY urbanism can be framed as a right to the city, others dismiss its political potential. However, dominant interpretations of right to the city do not engage with Lefebvre’s interest in the body and affect, themes that resonate with both Gibson-Graham’s politics of becoming as well as DIY urbanism. By identifying these linkages, this essay constructs an alternative, vital reading of Lefebvre’s right to the city in order to explore the radical potential of DIY urbanism. It grounds this theoretical framework in an ethnographic case study of DIY projects enacted between 2012 and 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. The essay then discusses the importance of highlighting the micropolitics of everyday urban life in order to identify and nurture their postcapitalist possibilities.

Uji Aktivitas Antioksidan Ekstrak Etanol 70% Bunga Telang (Clitoria ternatea L) dari Daerah Sleman dengan Metode DPPH

Telang flower (Clitoria ternatea L.) contains phenolic compounds which can act as antioxidants by donating hydrogen so as to stabilize the lack of electrons in free radicals. This study aims to determine the antioxidant potential of telang flower ethanol extract by looking at the IC50 value. Telang flowers were extracted by maceration method using 70% ethanol solvent. The potential for antioxidants was determined by the DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) method with a comparison of vitamin C which had been shown to have the potential of free radicals which were very potent. The results showed the IC50 value of telang flower ethanol extract was 41.36 ± 1.191 μg / mL, based on that value the telang flower extract from the Sleman area was in the very potent category so that it could be developed as a source of antioxidants from natural ingredients.

Nature Unnested

In Hans Christian Andersen’s iconic fairy tale, Den grimme ælling (The Ugly Duckling, 1843), we learn that “it does not matter that one has been born in the henyard as long as one has lain in a swan’s egg.” Claims to supremacy, worth, and belonging are nested in a children’s story about “nature” and bolstered by biological notions of kin and kind – some eggs are naturally better than others. Since Andersen’s nineteenth-century tale, the lost/found/switched egg narrative has become a trope in children’s literature, particularly in stories that explore themes of family and belonging, and yet little scholarly attention has been given to the egg in this regard. Drawing on queer, feminist, and posthumanist frameworks inspired by Donna Haraway’s natureculture thinking, this article examines the deployment of the egg-switch trope in Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling, in relation to two contemporary picturebooks, And Tango Makes Three (Parnell and Richardson, 2005), and The Odd Egg (Gravett, 2008). I treat the material-symbolic presence of the egg in these texts as a generative site for interrogating the construction and perpetuation of dominant notions of kin and kind, considering the complex and slippery ways that nature is called upon to uphold ideas of exceptionalism and normativity through discourses of origin and species. At the same time, acknowledging the concurrent conservative and radical potentialities of literature for children (Jaques), and guided by Rosi Braidotti’s affirmative ethics and Eve Sedgwick’s queer reparative approaches to criticism, I also read these texts as imaginative sites for noticing and theorizing alternative queer models of relationality that elevate chosen, non-biological, and cross-species kin.

1968: Towards a General Secularism

The numerous interpretations and evaluations of 1968 that have been developed over the past half-century can arguably be divided into two. On one side, there are those accounts that regard 1968 as the threshold across which an older form of modernity passed to become what student revolutionaries of the period began to call late capitalism; and although late capitalism itself quickly became a fissured thing, this view has become orthodox. On the other side, there are those who insist that ’68 was a Badiousian event, an outbreak of liberatory possibilities to which we not only have a responsibility to remain faithful, but which provided a template for later more or less insurrectionary movements; undoubtedly the strongest argument for ’68’s enduring radical meaning and potential has been made by Kristin Ross in her 2002 book, May ’68 and its Afterlives. This article is partly committed to arguing for a middle way between these two views. I accept that the processes leading to and following the events of 1968 triggered the development of a new kind of capitalist society as well as formed the template for the radicalisms we now have. This mediation might seem to involve a contradiction, but in the end it is more accurate not to see these two views as they see themselves, namely as enemies, but rather as dialectically and functionally united. Without the kind of capitalism that the 1960s triggered, no radical movement politics; without radical, post-communist movement politics, no such late capitalism. To see that, we need to think about ’68 in larger contexts and terms than is usual. I will call the context I wish to bring to bear general secularization.

“You need to just provide health services:” navigating the politics of harm reduction in the twin housing and overdose crises in Vancouver, BC

BackgroundSince harm reduction's origins as a grassroots, activist movement, cooperation and compromise among people who use drugs, bureaucrats, politicians, and other actors have been critical to its advancement in Canada. Critics have argued, however, that the institutionalization of harm reduction practice within the context of a politically sensitive environment has eroded its radical potential. The overdose crisis in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES) community has led to innovative harm reduction organizing that has been replicated globally. In this paper, we explore how one such intervention, the Tenant Overdose Response Organizers (TORO) program, has supported a resurgence in tenant-led harm reduction organizing in Single Room Occupancy (SRO) buildings in the DTES. MethodsWe draw on 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted between May 2017 and August 2018, over 100 hours of participant observation of TORO activities, and 15 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the program. ResultsTORO's leaders attempted to mobilize harm reduction intervention towards collective action on SRO risk environments underlying drug-related harms, but their efforts were constrained by the necessity of meeting practical expectations of funders regarding health education and supply distribution. Navigating these constraints ultimately shaped the development of the TORO program, helping to secure its longevity but also limiting its ability to organize a coordinated harm reduction and tenants’ rights response to the dual housing and overdose crises. ConclusionOur examination of TORO demonstrates how the harm reduction movement continues to be shaped by conflict, cooperation, and compromise between the state and grassroots groups. Even as actors strive to work collaboratively, the unequal distribution of power inherent in this relationship may contribute to the reinscription of a depoliticized harm reduction approach. We discuss the potential role of the risk environment framework in lending political legitimacy to grassroots harm reduction initiatives.

Mula kay GMA Hanggang kay Duterte: Kritika sa Ilang Dokumentaryong Politikal at Pagmamapa sa Tunguhin ng Dokumentaryo sa Panahong Pinapaslang ang Politikal

The comprehensive objective of this paper is to critique and interrogate selected political documentaries created by individuals and film collectives from the time of incumbency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Benigno Aquino III, until the current “fascist” (Imbong, 2020) regime of Rodrigo Roa Duterte. In whole, the paper has three specific objectives. First, subtlety lay and give clarity to the impelling philosophy and political stance of documentaries deemed political in nature. Second, apply a class-based critique and re-examination, particularly on the level of an ideological analysis, to the following documentaries—Red Saga (Dalena, 2004), Sa Ngalan ng Tubo (Tudla Multimedia Network & EILER, 2005), Tundong Magiliw (Maranan, 2011), The Guerilla is a Poet (Dalena,K.&Dalena,S., 2013) and Yield (Tagaro & Uryu, 2017). Lastly, another goal of the paper is to be able to map out some propositions on how to fully extract the radical potential of political documentaries especially at this time of elusive justice and reason, while unrest, impunity, and fascism are intense

Domesticating desire: Fantasy and social change in Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs

This article argues that Todd McGowan’s revision to classic psychoanalytic film theory (2007) gives us a means of better understanding the ideologic commitments of Downton Abbey (2010–15). Instead of addressing this question through examination of the politics of the series’ representations or through examination of the genre of the period drama, I use McGowan’s film theory to consider how the series constructs its viewer through ideological operations. Downton Abbey, this article demonstrates, answers the viewer’s desire with fantasy and thus assures viewers of the omnipotence and rightness of the ideological structures under which we live. A comparative examination of Upstairs, Downstairs () reveals that the earlier series – despite thematic and generic similarities – resists solving the viewer’s desire and thus has the radical potential to construct a viewer who is more likely to question ideology. A final comparison of the last minutes of each series demonstrates Downton Abbey’s investment in the fantasy of tradition as well as a current cultural reluctance to productively confront significant social change.

An African City: Black Women's Creativity, Pleasure, Diasporic (Dis)Connections and Resistance Through Aesthetic and Media Practices and Scholarship

AbstractHow do Black women engulf themselves in the politics of being and becoming through everyday existence, aesthetics and media practices in creative, pleasurable, diasporic and resistant ways? How is the hegemony of North America, Eurocentrism, anti-Blackness and sexism implicated in this? We consider such questions in relation to Black women's media and aesthetic practices, and their related scholarship, by examining the Ghana-based web series An African City. Our work echoes calls for the decentering of media and communication studies rooted in white and Western perspectives but positioned as “universal.” We explore Black women's experiences (in Britain, the United States, Ghana, and Nigeria) as active producers in their communities; beyond the dominant epistemological hierarchy of whiteness in contrast with Blackness. Framing visual communication as a community-based source of self-expression, we emphasize the liberatory possibilities of aesthetics (fashion and screen depictions) for Black women, while tarrying with how capitalism constrains such radical potential.

Agrarian struggle and food system injustice in the Anglo-Caribbean: centering social reproduction by (re)turning to Creft and Fanon

This piece offers a critical commentary on the historical-systemic marginalization and food system injustice being experienced by women farmers, agro-producers, and cottage industry owners in the Caribbean. In doing so, we provide an overview of the structural barriers and systemic negligence rural working-class and cash-poor women across the Anglo-Caribbean face as a result of the ongoing trajectories of colonialism, neoliberal logics, and patriarchal norms. In addition, the piece details the disproportionate amount of (devalued) socially reproductive labor women perform within the agrarian Majority World. We end by proposing that the radical potentials, emancipatory praxis, and clarion calls for transformative change offered by the region’s very own Jacqueline Creft and Frantz Fanon are revolutionary voices to pay heed to with respect to advancing a sustainable and (gender) just Caribbean future.

Feminist Ways of Seeing: The Radical Potential of Zines

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Reliable reduction potentials of diaryliodonium cations and aryl radicals in acetonitrile from high-level ab initio computations

The experimental values of the standard reduction potentials of diaryliodonium cations (Ar2I+) and aryl radicals (Ar•) are generally not deemed reliable owing to the irreversibility of electrode processes, often aggravated by blocking the electrode by the grafted layer. They are, however, required for the prediction of suitability of photoinitiators and the course of arylation reactions or aryl radical surface modifications. Here, we present accurate E° values of reduction of symmetrical and unsymmetrical Ar2I+, and of Ar• in MeCN, obtained from calculations based on the gas-phase redox energetics from the high-level explicitly correlated coupled-cluster method (CCSD(T)-F12) combined with the SMD solvation free energies. Plausible paths of C–I bond cleavage in unsymmetrical Ar2I+ cations were also predicted from reference values of the C–I bond dissociation energies (BDEs) in Ar2I+. The computed reduction potentials were compared with available experimental data and with results from other quantum chemical methods including other implicit solvation models. A perfect linear correlation with Hammett σ constants was found for the computed potentials of Ar2I+ reduction. This correlation equation may be used for rapid estimation of reduction potentials of other Ar2I+ cations, but also for the prediction of the fate of other processes, in which diaryliodonium cations take part, like aryl exchange reactions or the ability to initiate photopolymerisation.

Dissensus and democratic accountability in a case of conflict

PurposeThis paper explores diverse practices of the giving and demanding of democratic accountability within a case of conflict around deep-sea petroleum exploration in Aotearoa New Zealand. These practices include submissions and consultations, partnership between Indigenous Peoples and a settler-colonial government and dissensus. These are theorised through the political thought of Jacques Rancière.Design/methodology/approachA single case study approach is employed that seeks to particularise and draws on interview, documentary and media materials.FindingsBy examining a case of conflict, the authors find that as opportunities for participation in democratic accountability processes are eroded, political dissensus emerges to demand parts in the accountability process. Dissensus creates counter forums within a wider understanding of democratic accountability. In this case, individuals and organisations move between police (where hierarchy counts those with a part) and politics (exercised when this hierarchy is disrupted by dissensus) to demand parts as police logics become more and less democratic. These parts are then utilised towards particular interests, but in this case to also create additional parts for those with none.Originality/valueThis study privileges demands for accountability through dissensus as fundamental to democratic accountability, rather than just account giving and receiving. That is, who is or who is not included – who has a stake or a part – is crucial in a broader understanding of democratic accountability. This provides democratic accountability with a radical potential for creating change. The study also advances thinking on democratic accountability by drawing from Indigenous perspectives and experiences in a settler-colonial context.

Black hole indigeneity: the explosion and implosion of radical difference as resistance and power in Andean Bolivia

ABSTRACT With the coming to power of Evo Morales and el Movimiento al Socialismo, an indigenized language of resistance became the language of power. In this paper I explore how epistemological and ontological ‘radical difference’ was co-opted and used to legitimize Bolivian state power. I argue that when institutionalized and instrumentalized within the state apparatus, indigeneity – as an emancipatory device of radical difference – implodes on itself and its radical potential is lost in the black hole that is coloniality. This paper provides an analytical and historical horizon against which recent political events in Bolivia can be understood.

After the good life: squatting and the politics of the commons in The good terrorist

ABSTRACT This essay focuses on the representation of squatting as a form of ‘commoning’ in Doris Lessing’s The good terrorist (1985). It argues that the text’s centring of the act of squatting suggests a starting point for a politics rooted in everyday actions of home/making and community building, a model that relies on the power of the common – defined, following Raymond Williams, as what is ordinary and what is shared. Even as it posits the radical potential of squatting, the narrative’s imagining of gender politics, together with its ‘temporality of despair’, undermines the legitimacy of commoning as a sustainable form of social organisation. The article seeks to understand the conditions under which everyday life in Lessing’s London is brought about and sustained through a marking off of the possible and finds its historical analogue in the Thatcher-era slogan ‘There is no alternative’. The good terrorist is a narrative of ‘enclosure’ in which tragedies occur as the logical outcome of trying to find alternatives to the exigencies of the world as it is. It asks, if Lessing’s novel is one of ‘enclosure’, what might a novel look like that performs its opposite? Can we conceive a literature of the commons?