Seven theses about the so-called culture war(s) (or some fragmentary notes on ‘cancel culture’)

dc.contributor.authorPhelan S
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-04T20:09:34Z
dc.date.available2023-01-01
dc.date.available2023-05-04T20:09:34Z
dc.date.issued1/01/2023
dc.description.abstractHow might we understand the forms of mediatized politics that are signified under the dreary heading of the ‘culture war(s)’? This article addresses this question in the form of seven theses. Informed by a distinct theoretical reading of Laclau and Mouffe’s concept of antagonism, I highlight the anti-political character of culture war discourses, particularly as amplified in a public culture dominated by the social media industry. The seven theses are prefaced by an overview of the category of ‘cancel culture’, in light of its recent prominence as an object of culture war discourse. I highlight the primary role of far-right actors in the normalization of culture-war conflicts that persecute different identities, but also critique the online left’s entanglement in sedimented antagonisms that primarily benefit reactionary actors. The theses stress the repressive effects of culture war discourses on our collective political imagination. They redescribe some of the fault lines of a familiar terrain by thematizing the differences between a moralized and radical democratic understanding of political antagonism.
dc.description.publication-statusPublished
dc.identifier.citationCultural Studies, 2023
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/09502386.2023.2199309
dc.identifier.eissn1466-4348
dc.identifier.elements-id461293
dc.identifier.harvestedMassey_Dark
dc.identifier.issn0950-2386
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10179/18203
dc.relation.isPartOfCultural Studies
dc.relation.urihttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09502386.2023.2199309
dc.subject.anzsrc1608 Sociology
dc.subject.anzsrc2001 Communication and Media Studies
dc.subject.anzsrc2002 Cultural Studies
dc.titleSeven theses about the so-called culture war(s) (or some fragmentary notes on ‘cancel culture’)
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.notesNot known
pubs.organisational-group/Massey University
pubs.organisational-group/Massey University/Massey Business School
pubs.organisational-group/Massey University/Massey Business School/School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing
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