http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/critical-theory Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:25:31 -0400 Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:25:31 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1902/biologization-of-capital-and-capitalization-of-biopower-connecting-foucault-and-marx By Tianhao Hou - Foucault raised the concept of biopower in the first volume of The History of Sexuality and placed its emergence in the context of capitalism, but he did not fully tackle the relationship between biopower and capitalism. In this article, the author fills this gap through a careful reading of Foucault and Marx, arguing that perpetual spirals are formed between biopower and capitalism and their techniques intersected on the human body. The author first traces the definitions of each concept in order to show that they can be discussed and drawn connection with each other. After that, he expands upon... Tue, 25 May 2021 09:33 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1902/biologization-of-capital-and-capitalization-of-biopower-connecting-foucault-and-marx http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1617/a-theory-of-vernacular-rhetoric-reading-dantes-de-vulgari-eloquentia By Joseph P. Zompetti - The relationships between power and rhetoric have been the subject of many recent studies, most notably from the conversation concerning “critical rhetoric” (McKerrow, 1989; Murphy, 1995; Ono & Sloop, 1992; Shugart, 2003; Zompetti, 1997). Recent discussions have also occurred regarding the nature of vernacular discourse and how it affects disempowered groups (Berkowitz, 1997; Cheshire & Stein, 1997; Delgado, 1998; Hauser, 1998; 1999; McLaughlin, 1996; Ono & Sloop, 1995). Reflecting on the contemporary nexus between power and rhetoric certainly has its value, but we would... Thu, 06 Apr 2017 10:13 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1617/a-theory-of-vernacular-rhetoric-reading-dantes-de-vulgari-eloquentia http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1543/is-western-political-science-applicable-to-the-islamic-world-on-the-universality-of-particularism-in-the-middle-east By Samuel W. Singler - Given pervasive representations of its geostrategic and global economic significance, the Middle East constitutes an important area of political and academic study far beyond its geographical boundaries. A key debate underlying such research is whether the region represents a “unique case, quite different from the rest of the world and incomprehensible to outsiders,” or if it is rather open to analysis by an “intellectual system of general application” (Halliday, 1996: 2). By critically evaluating Fred Halliday’s view that the Middle East’s “uniqueness... Thu, 23 Feb 2017 11:12 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1543/is-western-political-science-applicable-to-the-islamic-world-on-the-universality-of-particularism-in-the-middle-east http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1504/artistic-expression-for-political-change-comedy-as-counter-terrorist-action By Zoe D. Fine - In March of 2015, National Public Radio published an online news story called “Egyptians Fight ISIS Fear-Mongering With Punchlines And Parody.” Author of the piece, Leila Fadel explains in the story that some individuals and organizations use comedy as a tool of subversion, as a means of defusing jihad and other terrorist acts (2015). Making themselves and others laugh serves to counter ISIS or ISIL, the violent extremist group famous for using weapons such as “highly-produced videos of brute violence” including recordings of a man being burned alive in a cage, Christians... Wed, 07 Dec 2016 02:50 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1504/artistic-expression-for-political-change-comedy-as-counter-terrorist-action http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1489/isis-and-the-global-image-war-an-archival-perspective-on-iconoclastic-performance-and-bio-political-authority By Christian Rossipal - The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) – also known as ISIL, IS and Daesh – has during the last years disseminated videos throughout the Internet in a new recruitment and media strategy focusing on the destruction of cultural heritage. This phenomenon will be used as a point of departure to reflect on the related global image war and the accompanying dissemination of moving images through multimedia archives and pseudo-archives on the Internet. Drawing mainly from Pasi Väliaho – but also Wolfgang Ernst, Ömür Harmanșah and Charles Merewether &ndash... Wed, 02 Nov 2016 10:36 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1489/isis-and-the-global-image-war-an-archival-perspective-on-iconoclastic-performance-and-bio-political-authority http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1462/can-marxist-thought-successfully-accommodate-radical-feminism By Bohdana Kurylo - The relationship between feminism and socialism is extremely intimate but also immensely intricate. According to feminist poet Adrienne Rich (1977, p. 285), ‘the repossession by women of our bodies will bring far more essential change to human society than the seizing of the means of production by workers. Indeed, it is work that has a special significance in the socialist tradition, playing a key role in making people who they are and shaping social relations. In the capitalist world, class becomes its structure, production its aim, and alienation its consequence. In the alternative world... Tue, 18 Oct 2016 04:20 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1462/can-marxist-thought-successfully-accommodate-radical-feminism http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1452/defining-a-terrorist-a-critical-examination-of-the-discourse-of-terrorism By Kanar Talabani - Understanding the term 'terrorist' is a complex and controversial issue within both academic scholarship and mainstream literature. By adopting a post-structuralist approach to the study of 'terrorism,' we are able to dissect the terms and understand how and why they have become dominant in recent years. This involves an in depth critical analysis of the knowledge and understanding of the use of the term. This essay applies post-colonial theory in understanding the evolution of identity discourse and its application within the study of 'terrorism.' I focus on the Eurocentric approaches to defining... Wed, 21 Sep 2016 08:26 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1452/defining-a-terrorist-a-critical-examination-of-the-discourse-of-terrorism http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1435/addressing-shortcomings-in-afro-pessimism By Michael A. Barlow Jr. - Afro-Pessimism forwards a crucially important foundation with which anyone concerned with forming Black resistance strategy should navigate. It accurately understands that Black life exists outside of the traditional humanist metric, and Blackness is rather an ontological condition that is relegated to the level of the non-human. While Afro-Pessimism is a vital starting point, there are needed revisions to some theoretical applications within the field. Pessimists go too far in their understanding of how internal Black liberation interacts with its own ontology. This paper provides insight to... Thu, 01 Sep 2016 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1435/addressing-shortcomings-in-afro-pessimism http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1381/mega-events-and-the-neoliberal-production-of-space-in-rio-de-janeiro By Sam Smith - Sporting mega-events in Rio de Janeiro, including the 2014 World Cup and the upcoming 2016 Olympics, employ particular tactics of spatio-temporal scale-making to produce a utopic atmosphere of global camaraderie, modern urban development, and sporting revelry. However, these spectacular representations simultaneously work to obscure the recognition of the violence of infrastructural development, as securitization and privatization facilitate the mass displacement of residents of Rio’s urban slums. This article traces the implications of both material and discursive processes associated with... Wed, 23 Mar 2016 08:18 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1381/mega-events-and-the-neoliberal-production-of-space-in-rio-de-janeiro http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1367/problematising-the-critical-realist-positional-approach-to-intersectionality By Ioana Cerasella Chis - Intersectionality is a much contested term which has been considered ‘a theory, a paradigm, a framework, a method, a perspective, or a lens’ (449; see Carbin and Edenheim 2013; Davis 2008). Academically, it offers a bridge for both generalist and specialist theorists to discuss the inter-relatedness of oppressive structures, identities, and experiences (Davis 2008:74-76). Hancock wonders whether intersectionality ‘can be the intellectual property of a single demographic group or whether it is in fact a meme’ (2015:624), while Carbin and Edenheim assert that intersectionality... Sun, 21 Feb 2016 02:29 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1367/problematising-the-critical-realist-positional-approach-to-intersectionality http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1013/capitalist-hegemony-the-political-challenge-of-alter-globalization By Jessica C. Bridges - Commonly associated with the economic principles espoused by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her US counterpart Ronald Reagan, neoliberal globalization conceives of the market and private capital as the main drivers for the “restructuring of economic, political and life” (Bangura 1994: 787). After a decade of TINA (There is No Alternative) indoctrination, a momentous backlash emerged in the 1990s (Ramos 2006: 3). Intent on exposing the internal conflicts and failures innate in a system that allowed the propagation of global stratification, activists representing... Mon, 16 Mar 2015 08:53 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1013/capitalist-hegemony-the-political-challenge-of-alter-globalization http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/912/comparing-the-philosophy-of-jurgen-habermas-and-michel-foucault By Frank Wang - Second, the essay argues that in their respective projects, the stress on the importance of the social contract differs. For Foucault, the social contract is the means to which the bourgeois class used to secure social order to protect their property and it was a step toward the diffusion of power; whereas for Habermas, he completely rejects the use of a social contract to create social order, for he finds communicative action to be capable of addressing weaknesses that social order does not account for. Third, it argues that whereas Foucault recognizes power relations as foundational for social... Mon, 08 Sep 2014 10:10 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/912/comparing-the-philosophy-of-jurgen-habermas-and-michel-foucault