Diana Stypinska – författare

On the Genealogy of Critique intervenes into both contemporary academic debates on critique, and today’s mainstream criticism, by reflecting upon the relationship between criticality and social change in the age of post-politics.What does it mean to be critical? When we are told that civilisation is facing extinction, does the idea of critique still hold any value? Today, more than ever, we seem to be critical of everything. Yet, paradoxically, our criticism exerts very little political influence. Taking this problematique as its starting point, this book reclaims the transformative potential of critique, challenging the common assumptions about criticality. It presents a counter-history of criticism, demonstrating how the modern notion of critical subjectivity embodies an imperative to the securitisation of the status quo. In elaborating on a range of contemporary critical (dis)positions, the book advocates new ways of thinking about critique and social change. Through this, it equips the reader with analytical tools useful for thinking the way out of our post-political predicament.This book is of relevance to anyone concerned with social change. Particularly, it will be of use to academics, postgraduates and advanced undergraduate students working in the areas of sociology, politics, philosophy and cultural studies.

On the Genealogy of Critique intervenes into both contemporary academic debates on critique, and today’s mainstream criticism, by reflecting upon the relationship between criticality and social change in the age of post-politics.What does it mean to be critical? When we are told that civilisation is facing extinction, does the idea of critique still hold any value? Today, more than ever, we seem to be critical of everything. Yet, paradoxically, our criticism exerts very little political influence. Taking this problematique as its starting point, this book reclaims the transformative potential of critique, challenging the common assumptions about criticality. It presents a counter-history of criticism, demonstrating how the modern notion of critical subjectivity embodies an imperative to the securitisation of the status quo. In elaborating on a range of contemporary critical (dis)positions, the book advocates new ways of thinking about critique and social change. Through this, it equips the reader with analytical tools useful for thinking the way out of our post-political predicament.This book is of relevance to anyone concerned with social change. Particularly, it will be of use to academics, postgraduates and advanced undergraduate students working in the areas of sociology, politics, philosophy and cultural studies.

This book examines the relation between agitation and social change in the digital context. Focusing on the phenomenon commonly referred to as social media storms, it conceptualizes digitalized agitation, reflecting upon its transformative potential and socio-political effects.Situating its analysis within the occidental context, the book firstly elaborates on the modern sociopolitical uses of agitation, addressing three of its key configurations: revolutionary, totalitarian, and entrepreneurial. Secondly, it focuses on the contemporary applications of agitation, exploring the workings of social media frenzies from the perspective of (a)moral and (re)activist entrepreneurship. Examining the ways in which the increasing mediatization of entrepreneurial agitation established mimetic frenzy as a dominant subjective (pre)disposition of our times, the book draws on a wide range of contemporary examples, from conspiracy theories to online call-outs. It argues that social media frenzies emerge out of the false need to agitate and to be agitated, contending that digital agitation is a source of compensatory intoxication, functioning as today’s opium of the people.This book is of relevance to anyone concerned with social change. It will be of particular use to academics, postgraduates, and advanced undergraduate students working in the areas of Sociology, Media, Cultural Studies, and Politics.