The American agitator goes digital
Understanding the affective role of agitational aesthetics in the online fascist recruitment of youth
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12424959 |
|---|---|
| Authors | T E Lewis (0000-0002-4303-752X, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 458-475 |
| Publication date | 2023-12-13 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Review of Education Pedagogy & Cultural Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1071-4413 • E-ISSN: 1556-3022 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10714413.2023.2291345 |
| OpenAlex | W4389678988 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 18 |
Given the rise in extremist radicalization using digital media, antifascist education must develop its own philosophy of digital technologies. The first half of this paper turns to Leo Löwenthal and Norbert Guterman's theory of the American agitator as well as Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno's notion of fascist projection and paranoia to provide groundwork for this project. Though written in the 1940s, Frankfurt School essays on agitation and projection can be thought of as early indications of the importance of affect in fascist politics, which has only become intensified with the advent of digital media. The paper then proceeds to apply a critical concept of "agitational aesthetics" to chan culture in the present day, highlighting the affective economy of memes in the radicalization process. In conclusion, a series of questions are posed to educators to help them think through the complexities of intervening before, during, and after the online agitation of proto-fascist tendencies in youth
Aesthetics · Agitator · Art · Epistemology · Media studies · Paranoia · Political science · Politics · Radicalization · Sociology · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Digital Education and Society · Engineering · Law · Philosophy · Political theory and Gramsci · Psychology
Algorithms of Oppression
Memes and symbolic violence
The authoritarian personality
"Do You Want Meme War?" Understanding the Visual Memes of the German Far Right
Affect and the Rise of Right-Wing Populism
Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism
Dialectic of the Enlightenment. Philosophical Fragments
This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
The challenges of studying 4chan and the Alt-Right
Education for Autonomy
The Authoritarian Personality, 50 Years Later
Fulfilling the Fascist Lie
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |