Jason Kosnoski

This paper will explore how John Dewey’s and Gilles Deleuze’s mutual emphasis upon affect and rhythm can illuminate under-appreciated political consequences of Occupy Wall Street. It suggests what I call the sensed “rhythms of resistance” that are produced when activists move through the micro-geography of the encampment and play an im-portant role in the collective becoming and critical dereification many highlight as re-sulting from their participation in the movement. My argument not only complexifies contemporary  interpretations  of  these  two  figures,  but  also  raises  provocative  ques-tions concerning new approaches to critical-democratic practice in the neoliberal era

This book uses John Dewey to articulate discursive practices that would help citizens form better intellectual and moral relationships with their fragmented, shifting political environment. These practices do not impart more or better information to citizens, but instead consist in dialog exhibiting rhythms and patterns that increase their interest in inquiring how distant events and communities affect their individual lives. The basis for these practices can be found in Dewey's claim that teachers can lead class discussions with particular "aesthetic" qualities that encourage students to expand the scale of the realm of events that they deem important to their lives. The ability to forge moral and intellectual links with distant political events becomes all the more necessary in our current environment-not only are individuals' lives increasingly affected by global events, but also such events constantly shift across an increasingly "liquid" social landscape comprised of decentralized institutions, instantaneous communication and easy transportation. Dewey saw early on how such "aesthetics" of society, or its spatial and temporal qualities, might undermine citizens' understanding and concern for the larger public. This concern for how the movement and location of elements of the social environment might affect citizen perception ties Dewey to many contemporary geographers, economists and social theorists normally not associated with his work. If Dewey's classrooms were to be reinterpreted as political associations and his teachers as organizers, individuals discussing the origins of their seemingly local issues in such associations could forge passionate moral connections with the contemporary liquid public. Subsequently, they might begin to increasingly care for, participate in global politics and seek solidarity with seemingly distant communities.

This essay hopes to allay some of these accusations through identifying the forces Dewey identified as be the main powers inhibiting progressive political action and reconstructing strategies that could be used to liberate citizen power and confront the forces opposed to democratic reform. In short, Dewey felt that a important and under acknowledged bulwark of the status quo was not elites’ ability to manipulate popular opinion through propaganda or take advantage of the incapacity of citizens to gain sufficient knowledge of complex political events, but instead to exploit the public confusion caused by individuals’ inability to construct meaningful cognitive representations of the numerous, fragmented, shifting elements of their social environment

This paper will explore how John Dewey’s and Gilles Deleuze’s mutual emphasis upon affect and rhythm can illuminate under-appreciated political consequences of Occupy Wall Street. It suggests what I call the sensed “rhythms of resistance” that are produced when activists move through the micro-geography of the encampment and play an important role in the collective becoming and critical dereification many highlight as resulting from their participation in the movement. My argument not only complexifies contemporary interpretations of these two figures, but also raises provocative questions concerning new approaches to critical-democratic practice in the neoliberal era.

In this paper I contend that both Ernst Bloch's theory of Utopia and Jacques Derrida's interpretation of the messianic promise of Marxism contain an underappreciated emphasis on the concept of work that can act as a basis for a novel synthesis of the two perspectives. When both theories are interpreted through this lens, they may be seen as representing two “moments” of a flexible Utopian “work” that closely resembles Marx's understanding of unalienated labor. Such a synthesis would be practiced as the alternation of Derrida's negative and Bloch's positive “Utopian work” with individuals engaging in the diverse, developmental, and collective production of Utopian visions of the best society. This process closely mirrors the creative, artisan-like work that Marx envisioned as flourishing after the eradication of the division of labor. When individuals practice it, they may gain an appreciation for this fundamental Marxist value even while existing in alienated, capitalist society.

This article examines how Frederick Law Olmsted’s parks, especially Prospect Park in Brooklyn, can be thought of as spatial technologies that mediate between individuals and their urban environment to foster an open, creative, and democratic relationship with the differences of their fellow city dwellers. The park accomplishes this spatially by encouraging citizens to journey through distinct geographies that enable associational styles Olmsted calls the “neighborly ” and the “gregarious. ” Through alternating between environments conducive to intimate, reassuring neighborly groupings and exciting, superficial, gregarious interaction, the park user encounters others within distinct spatial and temporal qualities that allow them to appreciate otherness without being overwhelmed by it. The spatial techniques derived from Olmsted’s work challenge accounts in political theory and urban planning that contend free movement through cities encourages tolerance and fluid identities and inste...

ABSTRACT. This essay examines how Frederic Law Olmsted’s Parks could provide environments productive of the “tactical” walking that Michel de Certeau believes able to undermine the spatial and temporal discipline that undermine autonomous subjectivity. The park can play this role because it’s landscape characteristics accentuate the non-instrumental, creative movement de Certeau highlights as the liberatory characteristics of walking. Whereas many have pointed out that the properties de Certeau ascribes to all walking comprise a highly stylized and infrequent activity, Olmsted’s parks, if taken as spaces embodying ideal spatial properties, could be used to design urban environments that enable creativity and autonomy, as opposed to engendered disciplined submissive bodies.

1 ABBREVIATIONS FOR FREQUENTLY CITED TEXTS 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 3 INTRODUCTION Chapter 4 1. MAPPING A LIQUID WORLD Chapter 5 2. NEO-HABERMASIAN SITTLICHKEIT AND SOCIAL MEDIATION Chapter 6 3. RECONSTRUCTION: SOCIAL MEDIATION IN A LIQUID SOCIETY Chapter 7 4. THE HABITS OF THINKING: LINKING ONESELF TO THE LIQUID WORLD Chapter 8 5. MAPPING THE LIQUID PUBLIC Chapter 9 6. THE CLASSROOM/ASSOCIATION AND THE TEACHER/ORGANIZER 10 CONCLUSION 11 BIBLIOGRAPHY 12 INDEX

ABSTRACT. This essay examines how Frederic Law Olmsted’s Parks could provide environments productive of the “tactical” walking that Michel de Certeau believes able to undermine the spatial and temporal discipline that undermine autonomous subjectivity. The park can play this role because it’s landscape characteristics accentuate the non-instrumental, creative movement de Certeau highlights as the liberatory characteristics of walking. Whereas many have pointed out that the properties de Certeau ascribes to all walking comprise a highly stylized and infrequent activity, Olmsted’s parks, if taken as spaces embodying ideal spatial properties, could be used to design urban environments that enable creativity and autonomy, as opposed to engendered disciplined submissive bodies.

This essay hopes to allay some of these accusations through identifying the forces Dewey identified as be the main powers inhibiting progressive political action and reconstructing strategies that could be used to liberate citizen power and confront the forces opposed to democratic reform. In short, Dewey felt that a important and under acknowledged bulwark of the status quo was not elites’ ability to manipulate popular opinion through propaganda or take advantage of the incapacity of citizens to gain sufficient knowledge of complex political events,  but instead to exploit the public confusion caused by individuals’ inability to construct meaningful cognitive representations of the numerous, fragmented, shifting elements of their social environment

In this paper I contend that both Ernst Bloch's theory of Utopia and Jacques Derrida's interpretation of the messianic promise of Marxism contain an underappreciated emphasis on the concept of work that can act as a basis for a novel synthesis of the two perspectives. When both theories are interpreted through this lens, they may be seen as representing two “moments” of a flexible Utopian “work” that closely resembles Marx's understanding of unalienated labor. Such a synthesis would be practiced as the alternation of Derrida's negative and Bloch's positive “Utopian work” with individuals engaging in the diverse, developmental, and collective production of Utopian visions of the best society. This process closely mirrors the creative, artisan-like work that Marx envisioned as flourishing after the eradication of the division of labor. When individuals practice it, they may gain an appreciation for this fundamental Marxist value even while existing in alienated, capitalist society.

This article examines how Frederick Law Olmsted’s parks, especially Prospect Park in Brooklyn, can be thought of as spatial technologies that mediate between individuals and their urban environment to foster an open, creative, and democratic relationship with the differences of their fellow city dwellers. The park accomplishes this spatially by encouraging citizens to journey through distinct geographies that enable associational styles Olmsted calls the “neighborly” and the “gregarious.” Through alternating between environments conducive to intimate, reassuring neighborly groupings and exciting, superficial, gregarious interaction, the park user encounters others within distinct spatial and temporal qualities that allow them to appreciate otherness without being overwhelmed by it. The spatial techniques derived from Olmsted’s work challenge accounts in political theory and urban planning that contend free movement through cities encourages tolerance and fluid identities and instead contends that structured, mediating spatial structures might be necessary to facilitate the cultivation of such characteristics.

ABSTRACT. This essay examines how Frederic Law Olmsted’s Parks could provide environments productive of the “tactical” walking that Michel de Certeau believes able to undermine the spatial and temporal discipline that undermine autonomous subjectivity. The park can play this role because it’s landscape characteristics accentuate the non-instrumental, creative movement de Certeau highlights as the liberatory characteristics of walking. Whereas many have pointed out that the properties de Certeau ascribes to all walking comprise a highly stylized and infrequent activity, Olmsted’s parks, if taken as spaces embodying ideal spatial properties, could be used to design urban environments that enable creativity and autonomy, as opposed to engendered disciplined submissive bodies.

This paper interprets John Dewey's understanding of the political function of local associations in terms of his aesthetic theory. Through this analysis it becomes clear that Dewey saw the spatio-temporal, or aesthetic, fragmentation of modern institutions, media, and ideas as undermining citizens' ability to perceive the relationships between themselves and society. This phenomenon causes the individual to become "lost" and unaware of how public events impact his/her individual life. It then shows that Dewey's concern with social aesthetics is shared by an increasing number of contemporary empirical and theoretical works. Finally, through analyzing the unique aesthetic characteristics of American pioneer life, it claims Dewey suggests that the construction of associations would assist the individual in locating himself/herself in fragmented society and therefore realizing the public implications of his/her seemingly isolated actions.

This essay uses John Dewey’s understanding of classroom discussion to construct a model of democratic deliberation that stresses the importance of the formal aesthetics of dialog. It claims that qualities such as the rhythm and direction of face-to-face political talk affects interlocutors’ effectiveness in persuading others and stimulating interest. Because participants primarily focus on responding to the substance of individual utterances, the model employs Dewey’s understanding of the teacher as a moderator who regulates the spatial and temporal quality of the entire deliberation. Although some might claim the presence of such an authority figure endangers the deliberators’ autonomy, Dewey stresses that good teachers assist students in constructing their own solutions to their own problems, and therefore a moderator could actively intervene and respect the normative principles of deliberative democracy. Finally, the essay discusses the distinctive role implied by such an association in a larger theory of deliberative politics.

Although the Occupy Wall Street Movement was founded through a concrete act of occupying a public plaza and transforming it into an encampment where activists lived, played, discussed and created, very little theoretical analysis has been devoted to how the physical usage and arrangement of the space both helped and hindered the goals of the activists. This paper uses the concepts of urban " play " as articulated by Henri Lefebvre and political " love " by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri to reveal how the concrete usage of space by activists might shed light upon under-appreciated political consequences of Occupy Furthermore, the paper seeks to specify how these concepts might be actualized within spaces by linking them to Richard Sennett's idealized presentation of the " craftsman " and " workshop "-individuals whose communal practices (the rituals of material consciousness, repair and informality) produce and embody spatial " play " and " love. " To further help to imagine spaces and practices they encourage, I discuss how certain actual spaces—the colonnaded stoa of the Athenian Agora, The Ft. Wayne, Indiana Art Center designed by Louis Kahn, and the playgrounds of Aldo Van Eyck, might act as " workshops " that help to spatially cultivate love and play. Finally, I present provisional suggestions concerning how the insights articulated in the paper might have been applied to the actual encampment Occupy Wall Street and might have served not only to overcome problems that developed in the site but also to encourage radical love and play.