ABSTRACT As mainstream celebrities circulate social justice signifiers, concurrent with a stark global rise in reactionary authoritarian populism, this paper considers how the levers and sites of political struggle are articulated when visibility is cast not as a prerequisite to politics, but politics is cast as a prerequisite to visibility. It critically analyses the emergence of resistance branding, referring to the process by which an individual or corporate entity adopts signifiers of political resistance and moral opposition in pursuit of cultural visibility. I explore the phenomenon of resistance branding through a specific case study: athlete-activist-celebrity Colin Kaepernick. The signature kneeling protest during the National Anthem of a 2015 NFL preseason game catapulted Kaepernick into a becoming a branded icon of authentic political resistance, repression, and sacrifice. Kaepernick has since embraced and maneuvered to extend this image, such that the Kaepernick Brand now proliferates across sport, advertising, publishing, merchandise, philanthropic organizations, and commercial sponsorships. Extending Stuart Hall’s work on the commodification of Black subjectivity, I explore Kaepernick’s trajectory to highlight the conjunctural shifts – most notably in regard to spectacularized sport, celebrity politics, and neoliberal recuperation – that rendered Black radical critique a pathway for fame/fortune rather than ostracization and repression. I argue that the Kaepernick Brand emerged within the racial economies of visibility, referring to how Black identity and its (assumed) corollary politics are shaped by buyers, sellers, and middlemen within the digital consumer marketplace. I conclude by assessing resistance branding as a mode of counter-hegemonic struggle within contemporary racial neoliberalism. I argue that, despite its potential material and symbolic benefits, resistance branding individualizes resistance, locates the locus of resistance in the commercial marketplace, and renders us reliant on the benevolence of capitalism’s spectacular winners rather than emphasizing incremental and unglamorous forms of grassroots resistance.

The dominance of ableist assumptions in precision medicine has recently been challenged, notably by Mintz, Stramondo, and Tabor (2024). Yet a similarly radical critique exists in Daoist traditions, particularly in the philosophy of Zhuangzi. While Mintz, Stramondo, and Tabor call for greater disability inclusion in genetics and genomics, they do not fully engage with how cultural and philosophical worldviews shape responses to genetic intervention. Drawing on our research on preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders (PGT-M), we argue that concepts like ziran (naturalness) and wuwei (non-action) can deepen our understanding of disability inclusion, particularly in Asian contexts. The comparatively restrictive approval of PGT-M in Asia reflects cultural discomfort with disrupting what is seen as nature's course. Zhuangzi's allegories-especially those illustrating "the usefulness of the useless"-challenge dominant hierarchies of ability and provide clinicians with tools to engage more sensitively with patients who may see genetic testing as ethically troubling. This paper integrates Daoist insights to propose a globally inclusive bioethics, one that affirms non-intervention as a legitimate stance and broadens how we conceive of naturalness, disability, and autonomy. By doing so, we aim to enrich debates around precision medicine and support ethically pluralistic genomic care.

ABSTRACT Engaging thinkers such as Martin Heidegger, Simone Weil, and Hans Jonas, this essay argues that Taubes offers a radical critique of modern Gnostic tendencies. Whereas Jonas and Emmanuel Levinas read Gnosticism as dualistic, Taubes interprets it as a symptom of monism—an oppressive logic of identity culminating in atheistic mysticism. She diagnoses Western theology as a totalizing logos that reduces transcendence to immanence. Through her readings of Heidegger and Weil, Taubes reveals modern theology as both culminating in and betraying its own atheistic core. Her concept of “religious atheism” seeks to move beyond both Gnosticism and theology by recovering the symbolic and performative dimensions of religion, envisioning a post—theological religiosity grounded in liturgy, holiness, and ethical rupture.

This article examines a less familiar side of Tom Nairn's career: his role as a commentator-participant in Scottish politics. It argues that Nairn was not only a radical critic of the UK but also an exponent of feasible strategies to advance Scottish self-government. The article draws on Nairn's journalistic writings for Scottish political magazines and the Scottish press to show that he combined a maximalist critique of the UK state with a pragmatic orientation to Scottish electoral politics. Nairn abjured the commitment to extra-parliamentary action favoured by his erstwhile colleagues in the metropolitan New Left and instead supported what was, de facto, a constitutionalist popular front strategy for Scotland.

ABSTRACT Critical dissections of neoliberalism’s de-democratizing effects are ubiquitous today, both in the academy and in para-academic popular venues. Inès Valdez’s Democracy and Empire (2023) is a bracing rejoinder to this tendency and a welcome respite from its propensity to ‘mourn a form of popular politics that both lacked a radical critique of capitalism and related despotically to racial others’ (p. 58). My aim in these comments is to further radicalize Valdez’s criticisms. Shorn of their attachment to national elite projects of exploitation and imperial domination, I argue, appeals to popular sovereignty lose whatever force they once had. In a postcolonial world, in which the climate crisis, resource wars, and the world historical event of mass migration mark everything, calls for collective self-determination evaporate into a moral fog that obscures our vision without giving us any force by which to carry emancipatory projects forward.

John Locke and Thomas Paine represent two distinct yet related efforts to respond to the theological-political problem. Though the thought of Thomas Paine has often been juxtaposed against John Locke with respect to issues such as limited government, democratic ideals, and constitutional principles, the theological-political thought of these two early modern political thinkers has not often been connected. This essay argues that, while Paine and Locke essentially agree about the inadequacy of traditional and orthodox forms of Christianity to accommodate the needs of a modern and liberal political order, Paine deepens and radicalizes Locke’s critique of Christianity by calling not for its redefinition in accordance with Enlightenment precepts but for its complete abolition. While Locke believed that Christianity, if stripped of its dogmas and liberalized, could be made to coexist with his vision of political order, Paine insisted that any such compromises with Christianity endangered fundamental democratic and liberal principles. Deism, as Paine understood it, represented the only acceptable political theology for a modern, liberal, and democratic society. By comparing the theological and political ideas of John Locke and Thomas Paine, this essay reveals important points of continuity within the thought of these two very different early modern political theorists. And yet, by outlining Paine’s challenge not only to traditional Christianity but even to Locke’s “enlightened” conception of Christianity, this essay also raises important questions about the internal consistency of Locke’s approach to the theological-political problem. Paine’s radical critique of Christianity in all its forms—orthodox or “enlightened”—suggests the presence within early modern political thought of influential voices whose liberal political philosophy required more than merely freedom of religion but instead demanded freedom from religion itself.

This paper examines the interrelationship between art, alienation, and universal human solidarity in the works of Rabindranath Tagore. Writing during a period marked by colonial domination, rising nationalism, and the disruptive forces of industrial modernity, Tagore articulated a profound critique of isolation—whether political, spiritual, or psychological. Through close textual analysis of Gitanjali, Nationalism, and The Religion of Man, this study argues that Tagore envisioned art as an ethical and spiritual medium capable of restoring fractured human relationships. Drawing upon Marxist and existential conceptions of alienation alongside aesthetic theory, the paper demonstrates how Tagore transforms artistic creation into a counterforce to modern fragmentation. His poetic vision transcends territorial nationalism and mechanistic civilization, advocating instead a cosmopolitan humanism grounded in empathy, beauty, and spiritual unity. Far from being escapist mysticism, Tagore’s aesthetics constitute a radical critique of dehumanization and an affirmative project of global solidarity. In an era increasingly characterized by polarization and alienation, Tagore’s artistic philosophy remains profoundly relevant.

ABSTRACT This article examines Ernest Feydeau's autobiographical text Consolation (1872) as a precursor to the genre of disability life writing. Through the lens of (literary) disability studies, we argue that Consolation offers a radical critique of the treatment of people with disabilities in his period. Nevertheless, due to the internalization of popular images and notions of disability, Consolation also makes use of stereotypical disability narratives and metaphors. The article analyzes the ambivalent nature of Feydeau's text and rejects previous interpretations of his writing as mere self-pity or sensationalism. Instead, it shows how Consolation sheds new light on nineteenth-century discourses of disability.

This research aims to deconstruct the phenomenon of hyper-independence that massively affects Generation Z within the contemporary digital ecosystem. As digital natives, Generation Z often falls into the trap of extreme self-reliance, which is regarded as a personal achievement but sociologically triggers the disintegration of social capital and societal atomization. The primary issue raised is how technological independence paradoxically creates emotional distance and social apathy toward real-world suffering. Utilizing a qualitative method based on library research and a Social Interpretation (al-tafsir al-ijtima’i) approach, this study positions Surah Al-Ma’un as a theological framework to address this solidarity crisis. The analysis is conducted by creating a dialogue between the Quranic text and digital sociological theories regarding social ties and atomization. The results show that Surah Al-Ma’un offers a radical critique of "religious individualism" by categorizing those who separate prayer rituals from social sensitivity as deniers of the faith. This study finds novelty in the reinterpretation of the term al-ma'un, which in the digital era is no longer limited to simple material aid but has transformed into "collaborative assets" encompassing information literacy, emotional support, and digital resource accessibility for marginalized groups. The research formulates the Inclusive Social Piety model, which integrates three main pillars: spiritual interconnection awareness, digital altruism, and empowering independence. This model functions as a solution to transform the narcissistic "I" paradigm into a collaborative "We" paradigm. In conclusion, the internalization of Al-Ma’un's values acts as a bridge between the personal advancement of Generation Z and their collective responsibility, serving as a basis for character strengthening in Islamic higher education to remain functional and responsive to human problems in the era of disruption.

The research paper presents a feminist horror interpretation of Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962), emphasizing madness, repression, social isolation, and female power that are interrelated. In contrast to the conventional psychological readings that interpret the main female characters as insane, the study looks at madness as a social deployment to the monitoring, hostility, and exclusion that the patriarchal community imposes. This qualitative research, which is intertwined with close reading, thematic analysis, and feminist and psychoanalytic theories, considers the Blackwood sisters' isolation because of societal power dynamics instead of individual mental disorder. The research uncovers that Jackson shows how solidary is formed through immorality and socialization as the two patriarchal power fathers emphasize women's alienation and dehumanization as signs of oppression. The Blackwood family is a home where subconscious inflation exists, meaning that the family is cursed alternatively and sheltered, and that generates a thrill, a scare, and a place of clever survival. The most important finding is that women's power in the story does not depend on society's acceptance or moral approval, but it is realized through strategic withdrawal, silence, and disobedience. In the same vein, without drawing a definite conclusion and presenting a morally ambiguous situation, Jackson unsettles the prevailing notions of sanity, fairness, and femininity. The research further classifies We Have Always Lived in the Castle as a pivotal work for present-day feminist discussions on mental oppression, gendered discipline, and resistance through alternative ways, thus making the book a radical critique of social conformity, patriarchal oppression, and psychological terror.

The apparatus pattern of class consciousness plays a universal role in cultural subordination. In rural Tamil Nadu, the class dimension is ascribed in terms of casteism, subjugating marginalised communities in mental, physical, and moral aspects. Perumal Murugan, a realistic Tamil writer, efficaciously displays the hegemonic influence of landowners over subordinate labourers, especially child labourers. Murugan, through his novel, Seasons of the Palm, attempts to expose the embedded violence against untouchables or subordinates within the hierarchical spectrum by giving life to characters like Shorty and his fellow sheep-herd child labourers, who work as slaves to their masters. The research paper is infused with the standpoint of posthumanism theory, a call to the quest for logical cultural homogeneity of humanism attained through a ‘zoe-centred’ ethical approach. The theoretical premise of posthumanism embodies a pivotal role in defeating the inhumane and violent cultural ideology that prevails consciously in the traditional mentality of so-called ‘upper-caste’ people in Tamil rural society. The research paper emphasises the nomadic nature of a constructive society based on the radical critique concept of ‘Nomadic Subjectivity’, which rhetorically rejects the fixed hierarchical idea of a superior human, transcending authenticity from ‘being to becoming’.

One of the most potent and genre-wide literary phenomena is the concept of utopia, an atemporal non-place where the perfect society lives. History of utopian thinking and writing showed that the notion of perfection is relative and grounded in real-life socio-spatial and temporal context. Utopias are manifold, yet, they are often very similar, even across different historical, geographical and cultural contexts. They can be deemed as radical critiques, yet they rarely renounce or reconsider archetypal narratives that in everyday life actually led to the crisis that was the impetus for their creation. Moreover, they are often rooted in exclusionary visions and practices, and nurture separatist narratives. This paper examines the manifestations of the mentioned separatist narratives through insight into features of various utopian city concepts in literary and architecture, in the realm of their interconnected toposphere, sociosphere and ethosphere.

ABSTRACT Reggae music has long served as a site of cultural resistance, political consciousness, and epistemic liberation, offering critical perspectives on colonial oppression and African self-determination. Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Survival Album (1979) stand as a seminal work in this tradition, articulating a radical critique of imperialism, (neo)colonial governance, and systemic injustice. This article argues that the Survival album constructs a powerful Afrocentric pedagogy of hope – critiquing the lingering effects of enslavement and colonialism while envisioning futures anchored in unity, spirituality, and resistance. The lyrics speak to the enduring struggle of African peoples but simultaneously insist on joy, healing, and the possibility of transformation. The album thus extends beyond entertainment to read as an anti-colonial text, a resource for educators, activists, and learners seeking to build a world beyond exploitation and oppression. It functions as a counter-hegemonic archive that challenges (neo)colonial curricula and calls on African higher education to embrace onto-epistemic disobedience of hegemonic narratives for onto-epistemic sovereignty.

This article examines the concept of freedom developed by Angela Davis grounded in the historical experience of Black women in the struggle against multiple forms of oppression. In contrast to the Western philosophical tradition, which defines freedom as a universal and abstract attribute, Davis proposes understanding it as a historical and collective process of liberation, forged in everyday practices of resistance. The Black woman, through organizing networks of care, solidarity, and insubordination, emerges as a foundational subject of this new formulation of freedom. The analysis focuses on Davis’s works from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, highlighting how her philosophy articulates theory, political practice, and militancy, while offering a radical critique of the criminalization of resistance and the social order that sustains exclusion. By shifting the concept offreedom from abstraction to the lived experiences of those historically denied it, Davis proposes a liberation philosophy rooted in Black women's insurgent praxis.

Anne-Charlotte Leffler (1849-1892) was a pioneering Swedish writer renowned for her bold depictions of female sexuality, her critique of gender roles, and her advocacy for women’s emancipation. A contemporary of August Strindberg and Ellen Key, she emerged as a central figure in Sweden’s literary and feminist movements during the Modern Breakthrough of the 1880s. Leffler challenged societal norms by writing candidly about desire, love, and marriage, often exposing the moral double standards imposed on women. In works such as Sanna kvinnor [True women] and Kvinnlighet och erotik II [Women and Sex II], she portrayed women exploring sexuality outside the confines of marriage, frequently suggesting that free love could be more ethical than traditional unions. Characters like Aurore in Aurore Bunge and Alie in Kvinnlighet och erotik II navigate desire, class expectations, and social judgment with a sense of agency that was exceptionally rare for female protagonists of the time. Her audacity sparked both scandal and admiration, ultimately establishing her as an icon of the “New Woman” in feminist discourse. Leffler’s narratives often reversed conventional gender roles, not only championing female liberation but also interrogating constructs of masculinity. Her male characters frequently expected women to center their lives around them—a dynamic she critically examined and subverted. Leffler’s literary career evolved from early realist plays such as Skådespelerskan [The Actress] (1873) to more symbolist and modernist works like Sanningens vägar [The Ways of Truth]. Despite personal hardships—including an unhappy first marriage and her controversial remarriage to Italian nobleman Pasquale del Pezzo—she remained committed to depicting authentic emotional and erotic experience. Her legacy endures for its radical critique of social norms, its nuanced exploration of gender and sexuality, and its unwavering insistence on equality—not only in politics and economics, but also in love and desire.

This review explores the philosophical relevance of Education and the Significance of Life (1953) by the Indian thinker Jiddu Krishnamurti. It argues that, despite not following a conventional academic structure, the book offers a radical critique of traditional education and proposes a transformative approach centered on self-understanding, inner freedom, and the development of holistic intelligence. The review analyzes how Krishnamurti’s ideas engage with contemporary debates in the philosophy of education, especially in a context of increasing technocratization and a crisis of meaning, positioning him as a key philosopher to rethink the fundamental purpose of education.

In recent years, there has been a growing societal interest in agriculture and gardening, reflecting many of the activities and political ideals of the 1960s–70s Swedish gröna vågen ("green wave") movement, when rural spaces became sites for societal critique and alternative lifestyles. This article compares the historical and contemporary back-to-the-land movements, focusing on the fantasmatic narratives that shape them. Both movements share ideals of anti-consumerism, self-sufficiency, and collectivism, but they differ in their societal critique and conceptions of resistance. The contemporary movement integrates individualistic values, emphasizing personal transformation, local engagement, and sustainability, while the 1960s–70s movement was more collectivist, challenging societal norms through communal living and political radicalism. This shift reflects broader societal changes, particularly neoliberal transformations, which have influenced how resistance and social change are understood and enacted today. Through an analysis of the emotional and symbolic dimensions of these movements, rurality, self-sufficiency, and community emerge as key factors in creating a sense of belonging and resistance. While the 1960s–70s movement idealized rurality as a utopian space of resistance against industrialization, the contemporary movement frames it as a solution to ecological crises, with a focus on sustainability and resilience. • Comparative analysis of 1960s–70s and contemporary back-to-the-land movements in Sweden. • Rurality, self-sufficiency and community function as affective and symbolic sites of resistance. • Movements articulate tensions between rural imaginaries and material rural conditions. • Contemporary movement mobilizes rurality through networked publics and shared ecological visions. • Shift from collective anti-capitalist framings to individualized, sustainability-oriented practices.

This contribution explores how three philosophical schools - Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Nihilism - offer meta-ethical frameworks for understanding and responding to psychological trauma. Long before modern psychology defined trauma in clinical terms, philosophy engaged with pain, loss, fear, and existential rupture not as pathology, but as fundamental conditions of human life. The Stoics propose resilience through rational reframing; the Epicureans through emotional autonomy and the reclamation of bodily agency; and Nihilism through a radical critique of societal norms as sources of harm. Drawing on historical figures such as Epictetus, Epicurus, Meister Eckhart, Ninon de Lenclos, and Friedrich Nietzsche, this contribution demonstrates how each school articulates a distinct response to trauma - ranging from cognitive detachment to the dismantling of toxic social roles. These perspectives are mapped onto five modern trauma categories, highlighting their continued relevance. This paper explores how philosophical traditions both conceptualize trauma and offer frameworks for resilience-building and thus serve as a meta-psychological framework for making suffering intelligible, fostering reorientation, and strengthening selfhood in a fragmented world. Keywords: Trauma, therapy, psychology, philosophy, stoicism, epicureanism, nihilism

ABSTRACT Since its establishment in 1945, UNESCO’s approach to gender equality in education has progressed through four key phases: legal provision for equal access to educational resources, education to enable female participation in economic development, addressing power dynamics to advance female development, and gender mainstreaming for empowerment. These shifts reflect a dynamic interaction between institutional frameworks, global priorities, and evolving theoretical perspectives. However, the gender equality strategies promoted by UNESCO have not fundamentally addressed the structural inequities within educational systems. The limitations of these strategies include the reproduction of gendered power relations, biases in global universalist narratives, and the absence of intersectional perspectives. UNESCO’s reliance on a liberal feminist framework tends to reduce complex gender politics to technocratic solutions that align with neoliberal ideals, thus limiting more radical critiques of the Global North’s dominant discourse. To foster true gender equality, it is essential to transform educational systems, decolonize knowledge, and strengthen the agency and voice of intersectionally marginalized groups.

Abstract The Kurdish movement in Turkey illustrates a complex struggle for political recognition and decolonization. The article examines this dual strategic orientation, focusing on the peace process initiated in October 2024 between the Turkish state and Kurdish representatives. Through a detailed and symptomatic reading of the two texts by Abdullah Öcalan, February Call and Perspektif , the article aims to demonstrate that the movement both interacts with the state to secure democratic prerequisites for political participation and continues to promote a radical critique of capitalist modernity and nation-state structures. Drawing upon Axel Honneth’s recognition theory and Étienne Balibar’s concept of “equaliberty,” the struggle for recognition is no longer seen just to result in a depoliticization through governmental control, but is rethought as building the capacity to stage an ongoing, performative process that manages the constitutive tension between equality and autonomy within Kurdish decolonial practice. This approach raises questions about how the movement navigates state structures while promoting alternative social institutions and epistemic spaces, including the problematic site of communes as a form of democratic autonomous experimentation.