Rough Theory

Theory In The Rough

Monthly Archives: November 2005

Humbuggery in Action

9 Comments Posted by on November 30, 2005

Frank H. Strauss – an evidently frustrated reader of Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project – posted the following in Amazon’s reader reviews: This book is a nihilistic, incoherent work, and I dare anyone who reads this review to argue to the contrary. Admiration for this book is humbuggery in action. The emperor has no clothes. There [...]

Critical Theory, Philosophy of History

Pedestrian Access to the 19th Century City

Leave a Comment Posted by on November 29, 2005

Planning theorists often criticise the negative impact of designing urban spaces around the needs of automobiles. Theorists lament the resultant unsafe conditions for pedestrians, and the associated loss of vibrant street cultures. They cite our increasing dependence on automobiles for even brief travel, and draw attention to the way that we shuttle from our homes [...]

City Planning, Critical Theory, Philosophy of History

Early 20th Century Blogging

1 Comment Posted by on November 28, 2005

I remember when I first heard of blogging, my immediate thought was that Walter Benjamin would have enjoyed the medium. I’m currently reading Benjamin’s Arcades Project – a vast, dense constellation of quotations, commentary and notes, associatively mobilised around the central metaphor of the Paris arcades as quintessential symbol of 19th century capitalism. Although Benjamin [...]

Blogging, Critical Theory, Philosophy of History

The Relationship of Blogging to Academic Work

11 Comments Posted by on November 25, 2005

In July, the US Chronicle of Higher Education’s Career section featured an article about the impact of job applicant blogging on the deliberations of academic hiring committees. Titled Bloggers Need Not Apply, (and attributed to the pseudonymous “Ivan Tribble”), this article questions the wisdom of academic job applicants’ posting sometimes deeply personal information about themselves [...]

Blogging, Professional Life, Teaching

Timeless Truths, Ancient Identities

Leave a Comment Posted by on November 22, 2005

I’ve occasionally written here about the problematic way in which some theorists invoke notions of timeless truths or perennial questions – often picking and choosing their historical material quite selectively (albeit usually unintentionally) to reinforce the impression that a particular question, problem, or approach is intrinsic to the human condition, rather than deriving from a [...]

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