Something New in the SPACE

but not for everyone

https://sts.williams.edu/files/2024/11/MTP-v1i1.pdf

This is a new publication by metamodern scholars that is not intended for us average and ordinary folk. But it is work that I am impressed by and proud of. Brendan Graham Dempsey can communicate on many levels and much of his other work is very accessible.

As background, I have a lenthy review of Dempsey’s book, Metamodernism: Or, The Cultural Logic of Cultural Logics, on my website.

I read Introducing Metamodern Theory & Praxis but will probably not read any of the articles. However, I will share some quotes from the introduction. As a Metamodern Wannabe, I take comfort in the developing depth of our worldview.

A generation of theorists told us that modernity was over… Later, with compounding hubris, theorists declared the end of narrative, the end of myth, the end of history, the end of ideology, the end of truth, and even the end of capitalism. And yet they were wrong.

We need a new philosophy. A philosophy for those of us who came of age after everything was already fucked up. We need a philosophy that is more than mere table-slapping objectivity or politically driven wordplay.

…we need theories and methods that are actually generative of new knowledge… critical theorists have only tried to destroy the world; now we must rebuild it. This journal aims to provide a foothold to a better future.

Nor are the critics completely wrong.

This journal thus aims to be a home for no-bullshit scholarship and movement work.

…all uses of “metamodern” refer to moving beyond postmodernism yet by means of postmodernism… At last, some thinkers are beginning to complete the move, negating negation for a new positivity—traversing through deconstruction toward reconstructive efforts.

This burgeoning interest has inspired the launch of this new journal. We hope it will serve as a vibrant forum where diverse voices can come together to shape the future of theory. We envision it as a place where ideas transcend academic silos and where every contributor can participate in forging a more inclusive and dynamic intellectual landscape.

If this does not excite you even a little bit, you are probably not a Metamodern Wannabe, but you are more than welcome to stay as a follower or subscriber.

I have one more observation. METAMODERN THEORY AND PRAXIS feels very masculine, but this is not a criticism. Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm and Brendan Graham Dempsey are doing what is theirs to do. Men love ideas, and I love ideas, and ideas are important. But that story is incomplete.

I am currently drawn to the healthy feminine which emphasizes relationships, which we must also rebuild, while not disparaging ideas.