Papers by Jordan Todd
Memory studies scholars often argue that the concept of collective memory is disparate and ambigu... more Memory studies scholars often argue that the concept of collective memory is disparate and ambiguous, lacking theoretical and methodological development. Given this, the often studied relationship between physical memorials and collective remembrance remains problematic. Accordingly, this thesis draws on Actor-Network Theory (ANT), an approach that largely resides outside of memory studies literature, in order to situate memorials and monuments within a tenable analytical framework of collective memory. The utility of this framework is demonstrated through an empirically-based analysis of the National Holocaust Monument project in Ottawa, Canada. Rather than posit a fixed definition of collective memory, the aim is to treat collective remembrance as something that is enacted through and ultimately an effect of heterogeneous networks of materialsemiotic relationships. It is argued that when it is taken as such, the role of the monument within collective remembrance becomes more attributable and coherent in regards to broader mnemonic processes. I would like to sincerely thank Dr. Michael Mopas and Dr. Stacy Douglas for their guidance, support, and most importantly, their insightful and invaluable feedback on my work. They have helped me to become a better theorist and researcher and for that I am indebted. As well, I would like to thank Dr. Monica Patterson (internal examiner).
Bruno Latour has long argued that scholars must take seriously the role of nonhumans in social an... more Bruno Latour has long argued that scholars must take seriously the role of nonhumans in social and political assemblages. In this paper it is argued that if International Relations (IR) scholarship is to robustly theorize failure and denial in world politics, then it must glean from object-oriented ontological approaches. This is notably salient when considering the role of monuments and memorials in national and international contexts – particularly in regards to the role that they play in networks of collective memory, national identity, and foreign policy. Drawing from a case study of the National Holocaust Monument (NHM) currently being built in Ottawa, Canada, this paper explores how memorials and the processes surrounding their establishment participate in local networks and how these local networks can potentially be entangled in what constitutes failure and denial in world politics. Additionally, this paper will explore a methodological approach to following entities between...
Ideas like public space, public policy, public affairs, and public opinion have been prominent ob... more Ideas like public space, public policy, public affairs, and public opinion have been prominent objects of study within the discipline of political sociology. With his scathing critique of political philosophythat there can be no such thing -Jacques Rancière could, at least to a certain extent, take issue with the idea that "political sociology" could properly exist. For Rancière, "philosophy" and what can be called "political" are in a constant paradoxical relationship with each other 1 , where the former consists of objects that come out of a reflexive process borne of specific encounters with politics, art, science, etc., and the latter being actively realized through an a priori principle of equality. This paradox is realized when philosophy takes its objects and through certain reflexive encounters with them, prescribes the "ought" or "is" that inevitably endorses a specific ordering or hierarchy of things and people. When the philosophical object is "political", it embodies a certain social order or hierarchy that legitimizes some sort of inequality parts of the whole who are left uncounted and unheard. 2 Politics on the other hand, is an action antagonistic to the product of philosophy. For Rancière, a political object constitutes a temporary and variant mode of expression that has the effect of challenging the order, and therefore cannot be stabilized as a prescriptive philosophical norm.
The purpose of this paper is to present a summary of Katherine Fierlbeck’s Political Thought in C... more The purpose of this paper is to present a summary of Katherine Fierlbeck’s Political Thought in Canada: An Intellectual History and The Development of Political Thought in Canada: An Anthology in tandem. This is a fitting approach since Fierlbeck has written these two books as companions to each other. In Political Thought in Canada, she presents detailed arguments regarding theories and traditions which have historically developed within a Canadian political and intellectual context. In this volume, she sets out to provide what could arguably be a unique Canadian political identity, while recognizing the specific political realities and intellectual environments that influence the ideas behind such a character. She herself summarizes the development of Canadian political thought while referencing the historical events, politicians, intellectuals, and philosophies which have influenced this development.
In this short paper, I will attempt to elucidate Adorno’s understanding and employment of the con... more In this short paper, I will attempt to elucidate Adorno’s understanding and employment of the concept of ‘enlightenment’ in his analysis of modern capitalist society as it is laid out in Dialectic of Enlightenment (Horkheimer & Adorno, 1972). To do this I will focus on what I have come to recognize are some key points of his argument, which are the following: 1) his treatment of the two distinct terms, ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘enlightenment’; 2) his contrast between mythology and enlightenment; and 3) his critique of the primary aim of the enlightenment. As well, I will briefly discuss what Adorno does for Marxism within this context, i.e., what was lacking in Marxist theory that Adorno’s discussion of enlightenment sought to address. Over this last point I will use Georg Lukács specifically as an interlocutor, since we have recently considered his work.
Intentional communities often require significantly more commitment, involvement and investment f... more Intentional communities often require significantly more commitment, involvement and investment from their members than other forms of community. They provoke a more holistically demanding lifestyle than other North American living arrangements and some members report feelings of being marginalised by those outside the community due to the way that they live. Given this, why do members of these communities insist on living together in this way? The research presented here begins to address this question. Based on a content analysis of an intentional community magazine and focus groups conducted in four communities in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, I suggest that members frame their involvement in these communities in terms of a "lacking" narrative and that it is through this narrative that members justify the extra demands of community life. This narrative allows members to share stories about their lives prior to their involvement with the community, as well as current membership experiences, which they contrast to their perceptions of life outside their own community. These reports are constructed through individual and group narratives which identify broad issues related to society. The majority of members involved in the focus groups communicated that they believed life in their community to be a desirable alternative that outweighed the additional conflict that is inherent in community life.
Conference Presentations by Jordan Todd
Bruno Latour has long argued that scholars must take seriously the role of nonhumans in social an... more Bruno Latour has long argued that scholars must take seriously the role of nonhumans in social and political assemblages. In this paper it is argued that if International Relations (IR) scholarship is to robustly theorize failure and denial in world politics, then it must glean from object-oriented ontological approaches. This is notably salient when considering the role of monuments and memorials in national and international contexts – particularly in regards to the role that they play in networks of collective memory, national identity, and foreign policy. Drawing from a case study of the National Holocaust Monument (NHM) currently being built in Ottawa, Canada, this paper explores how monuments and memorials participate in local networks or ‘cityscapes’ and how these local networks actively participate in constituting failure and denial in world politics. Additionally, this paper will explore how these nonhumans participate in networks that (re)define subjectivities, collective memories, national histories, and foreign policies. The discussion here will elucidate connections between these networks and the ontological security of the state – focusing on how these nonhumans act to help negotiate how failure and denial feed back into the political process. This paper concludes that monuments and memorials play an integral role in how success and failure is governed, and further, that these nonhumans both open and close opportunities for political action.
The purpose of this paper is to explore Bruno Latour’s ‘anthropology of the moderns’ along side J... more The purpose of this paper is to explore Bruno Latour’s ‘anthropology of the moderns’ along side Jacques Rancière’s ‘radical equality’ within the context of social movement studies. In his project, Latour identifies different sets of felicity and infelicity conditions that are captured by various ‘connectors’ or modes of existence. Rancière’s commitment to radical equality leads him to conceptualize a very specific form of political subjectification based on dissensus rather than consensus. How both scholars understand the political, the social, and democracy have some significant theoretical implications within the field of social movement studies. It is argued here that though there are important differences between the two, both can be used to productively engage with contemporary social and political movements, bringing more clarity to academic accounts as well as to those who wish to organize the social movements themselves. Latour’s anthropological approach provides a unique framework through which to study the networks and values of social movements, while Rancière’s definition of the political distinguishes politics from what is more broadly considered ‘the social’ – a useful distinction not currently found in social movement literature. After an overview of their projects respectively, disagreements between the two scholars will be discussed followed by an application of their ideas within social movement studies.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between certain ontological gaps (domain... more The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between certain ontological gaps (domains and modes of existence) and political gaps (sites of precarity). The former draws our attention to a gap that needs to be overcome for the sake of democracy, while the latter insists that a gap itself is the only legitimate place for the political to occur. Here, they are both explored separately as spaces of possibility. The philosophy of Bruno Latour is drawn upon to discuss the opportunities that come out of distinguishing between domain and mode of existence, while the work of Jacques Rancière will be used to help understand the significance of the precarious site as essential to what constitutes the political. However, if we are to take Rancière’s definition of the political seriously, then this places Latourian ‘philosophy’ at odds with ‘politics’. Though the relationship between the two may seem irreconcilably paradoxical, it is argued here that Latour’s commitment to an ‘anthropology of the modern world’ is in a productive tension with Rancière’s politics. It is through the exploration of these gaps that this productive tension will be explored.
Intentional communities often require significantly more commitment, involvement and investment f... more Intentional communities often require significantly more commitment, involvement and investment from their members than other forms of community. They provoke a more holistically demanding lifestyle than other North American living arrangements and some members report feelings of being marginalised by those outside the community due to the way that they live. Given this, why do members of these communities insist on living together in this way? The research presented here begins to address this question. Based on a content analysis of an intentional community magazine and focus groups conducted in four communities in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, I suggest that members frame their involvement in these communities in terms of a ‘lacking’ narrative and that it is through this narrative that members justify the extra demands of community life. This narrative allows members to share stories about their lives prior to their involvement with the community, as well as current membership experiences, which they contrast to their perceptions of life outside their own community. These reports are constructed through individual and group narratives which identify broad issues related to society. The majority of members involved in the focus groups communicated that they believed life in their community to be a desirable alternative that outweighed the additional conflict that is inherent in community life.
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Papers by Jordan Todd
Conference Presentations by Jordan Todd