In thatsense the Anthropocene is a kind of biospheric dystopia coming into being every day, partly becauseof the daily activities of the bourgeois consumers of dystopian literature and film, so that there is anightmarish recursive realism involved in the project:
The Anthropocene, which refers to the current geological epoch in which human activities have a significant impact on the Earth's ecosystems, is characterized by environmental degradation, climate change, and the loss of biodiversity.
Here no doubt one has to avoidBerlant’s “cruel optimism,” which is perhaps thinking and saying that things will get better withoutdoing the work of imagining how. In avoiding that, it may be best to recall the Romain Rolland quoteso often attributed to Gramsci, “pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.
It's important to acknowledge that simply hoping things will get better without taking action to make it happen is not enough. It's crucial to engage in the hard work of imagining and creating a better future.
Althusser’sdefinition of ideology, which defines it as the imaginary relationship to our real conditions ofexistence, is very useful here, as everywhere. We all have ideologies, they are a necessary part ofcognition, we would be disabled without them. S
Althusser's definition of ideology as the "imaginary relationship to our real conditions of existence" is a useful tool for understanding how individuals and societies perceive and make sense of the world around them.
Dystopias are the flip side of utopias. Both of them express feelings about our shared future; utopiasexpress our social hopes, dystopias our social fears. There are a lot of dystopias around these days,and this makes sense, because we have a lot of fears about the future
In today's world, there are many dystopian narratives that reflect our current social fears. For example, the rise of authoritarianism, the erosion of democracy, and the impact of climate change are all issues that are explored in dystopian literature and film.
In appearance, the disciplines constitute nothing more than an infra-law. They seem to extend the general forms defined by law to the infinitesimal level of individual lives; or they appear as methods of training that enable individuals to become integrated into these general demands
They operate at an individual level, enforcing rules and standards that are consistent with broader legal and societal norms.
In a word, the disciplines are the ensemble of minute technical inventions that made it possible to increase the useful size of multiplicities by decreasing the inconveniences of the power which, in order to make them useful, must control them. A multiplicity, whether in a workshop or a nation, an army or a school, reaches the threshold of a discipline when the relation of the one to the other becomes favourable.
In this quote, Foucault describes the concept of discipline as a set of technical innovations that allow for the control and regulation of multiplicities (i.e., groups of individuals). The goal of discipline is to make these multiplicities useful to power by minimizing the inconveniences and difficulties that arise from attempting to control them.
The school tends to constitute minute social observatories that penetrate even to the adults and exercise regular supervision over them: the bad behaviour of the child, or his absence, is a legitimate pretext, according to Demia, for one to go and question the neighbours, especially if there is any reason to believe that the family will not tell the truth; one can then go and question the parents themselves, to find out whether they know their catechism and the prayers, whether they are determined to root out the vices of their children, how many beds there are in the house and what the sleeping arrangements are; the visit may end with the giving of alms, the present of a religious picture, or the provision of additional beds (Demia, 39-40).
This quote describes how schools can function as instruments of surveillance and social control, not just for students but also for adults.
It makes it possible to draw up differences: among patients, to observe the symptoms of each individual, without the proximity of beds, the circulation of miasmas, the effects of contagion confusing the clinical tables; among school-children, it makes it possible to observe performances (without there being any imitation or copying), to map aptitudes, to assess characters, to draw up rigorous classifications and, in relation to normal development, to distinguish “laziness and stubbornness” from “incurable imbecility”; among workers, it makes it possible to note the aptitudes of each worker, compare the time he takes to perform a task, and if they are paid by the day, to calculate their wages (Bentham, 60-64).
By creating a system of constant observation and surveillance, panopticism allows for the precise measurement and classification of individuals based on their performance, behavior, and aptitudes.
At the centre was an octagonal pavilion which, on the first floor, consisted of only a single room, the king’s salon; on every side large windows looked out onto seven cages (the eighth side was reserved for the entrance), containing different species of animals. By Bentham’s time, this menagerie had disappeared.
The mention of the Menagerie in Bentham's work may be intended as a metaphor for the way in which power operates through the control and display of bodies, whether they be animal or human.
It is an important mechanism, for it automatizes and disindividualizes power. Power has its principle not so much in a person as in a certain concerted distribution of bodies, surfaces, lights, gazes; in an arrangement whose internal mechanisms produce the relation in which individuals are caught up.
This quote reflects Foucault's idea that power is not solely embodied in individuals, but is instead distributed throughout society in various institutions and systems.
Bentham’s Panopticon is the architectural figure of this composition. We know the principle on which it was based: at the periphery, an annular building; at the centre, a tower; this tower is pierced with wide windows that open onto the inner side of the ring; the peripheric building is divided into cells, each of which extends the whole width of the building; they have two windows, one on the inside, corresponding to the windows of the tower; the other, on the outside, allows the light to cross the cell from one end to the other.
The idea behind the Panopticon was to create a prison design that would allow a single watchman to observe all of the prisoners without the prisoners knowing when they were being watched.
inclination
a person's natural tendency or urge to act or feel in a particular way; a disposition or propensity
quarrel
a heated argument or disagreement, typically about a trivial issue and between people who are usually on good terms
augmentation
the action or process of making or becoming greater in size or amount.
And therefore, if any two men desire the same thing which nevertheless theycannot both enjoy, they become enemies; and, in the way to their end, which isprincipally their own conservation and sometimes their delectation only,endeavour to destroy or subdue one another.
This sentence is still present today, when we often see two people in the same field not being able to embrace each other, but quick to tear each other down.
eloquent
fluent or persuasive in speaking or writing
prudence
the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason
machination
a plot or scheme.
Armageddon complex
The Armageddon Complex is the disposition to believe that total war is inevitable
syncretism
the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought
Celtic runes
Celtic Runes have been found on stones, Viking ships, spears, cups, and many objects
FASCISM
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement
totemic culture
system of belief in which humans are said to have kinship or a mystical relationship with a spirit-being, such as an animal or plant
disavow
deny any responsibility or support for
prerogative
a right or privilege exclusive to a particular individual or class
aim-inhibited affection
an instinct fails to achieve direct satisfaction of its aim but obtains reduced gratification through activities or relationships similar to the original aim.
libidinal development of the individual
Psychoanalysis saw libidinal development as spanning the whole psychosexual evolution of the individual from birth to adulthood.
human beings exhibit an inborn tendency to carelessness, irregularity and unreliability in their work, andthat a laborious training is needed before they learn to follow the example of their celestial models
how can i statement like this be made without any proof
his gods
I noticed how sometimes he would capitalize the G in God while other times he wouldn't
cruder
constructed in a rudimentary or makeshift way.
modicum
a small amount, or limited quantity
why it is so hard for men to be happy
I feel think this more of a society thing than the actual true, because society expects men to be even kill, and not really show emotion.
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Oppression now is more of a mind set now than saying we are just get rid of people in power or make new laws.
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On page 38 the writer addresses many types of oppressed groups, but we see that although we can group them as the oppressed, the all go through different types of oppression.
contemporary emancipatory socialmovements
I've learned that this is a shifting environment composed of new media technologies and platforms that enable new identities, organizational forms, and practices.