Factory Farms in a Consumer Society

Originally developed to describe the industrialization of American agriculture, the term “factory farm” became an increasingly pervasive metaphor in American culture through the 20th Century. From its origins in triumphal narratives of agricultural engineering, the term has extended beyond critiques of agribusiness in recent decades and found expression in critiques of the white-collar workplace and allegories of consumerism and colonialism. This paper chronicles this shift, and argues that the expansive use of the metaphor corresponds to our transformation from a producer to a consumer society. This shift to a consumer society is similarly expressed in food writing from the 20th Century, as Upton Sinclair’s focus on the industrial slaughterhouse is replaced with Eric Schlosser’s focus on the fast-food franchise. Wide use of the metaphor of a factory farm reveals not only how disciplinary technologies far exceed the confines of specific industrial settings, but also how seemingly unrelated institutions and activities – like working, eating, and political protest – are organized by the same technologies and discourses

The Symbolic Capital of the Neoliberal University

The paper examines the concerns about the enduring value of liberal education in the broader context of a shift from a liberal to a neoliberal society. While so much literature on “the neoliberal university” tends to characterize neoliberalism as a hostile force invading the sacred space of the university, the knowledge comprising neoliberalism is in large part the product of research coming out of universities. Using the concept of symbolic capital to explore the role of university researchers in developing and consecrating neoliberal ideas, the paper argues that even in this era of heightened skepticism toward experts and expertise, university researchers play a key role in shaping both formal policy and popular common sense. The paper ultimately characterizes the university as a key site of struggle over what gets to be considered knowledge, and academic workers as central to this ongoing and urgent political struggle

Exile Vol. XXVII No. 1

ANDY ACKER: Four Lane Breakfast 30 MIKE AUGUSTA: The Store 25-27 J. L. FREEMAN: Bobbie 22 Poem 33 JENNIFER E. GARDNER: Photo 3 Deeds Field 9 Photo 21 Photo 23 Photo 24 LAURA GILBERT: Photo 13 Photo 28 Photo 29 Photo 31 Photo 36 KATE GLAZER: Drawing 14 MICHAEL HEINLIN: Reflections 19 DAVE HOGSHIRE: The Life And Times Of General Worm 29 CHAD HUSSEY: Waiting for Anne Sexton 13 JOHN WHITWORTH KROPF: Friends in the Park 30 DANE LAVIN: Story 4-8 LISA LAWRENCE: Poem 17 The Man With The Red Hat 15 JAMES LUNDY: Bonds 10 Photo 30 Photo 34 Twisted Ulna 11 LISA MEAD: Resistance 9 LISA MINACCI: The Drop 33 A. PENCE: The Minstrels 1 Mussels 33 PENELOPE A. RISEBOROUGH: Poem 2 Regent Street Mannequins 2 RICK RORICK: Photo 18 A. K. SESSIONS Nervious Tension 10 SUZIE SNYDER: Photo 16 L. S. VIOLA: Trash Can JOHN ZARCHEN: In Autumn 20 ANONYMOUS: Untitled Article 32 Sandymount Strand 35 Cover drawing by Kate Glaze

Tipping point discourse in dangerous times

The concept of the tipping point has reshaped how crisis is perceived and understood in public discourse. We study this trend in selected instances, including the 2005 Iraqi elections, the 2005 flooding in Louisiana, and the climate-change crisis, before situating Malcolm Gladwell's theory of the tipping point in historical context. We discuss how Gladwell interprets key dimensions of the epidemiological approach in an overly selective manner in order to advance a particular political perspective on public policy. This perspective restricts an understanding of the way social inequalities shape the environmental conditions, contexts, and politics of social problems

The ideology of the epidemic

In recent years, epidemiology has made a leap from specialized literature to popular discourse. Thanks in part to Malcolm Gladwell's bestselling treatment of "social epidemics," The Tipping Point, nearly every facet of social and political life-from fashion trends and crime waves to global warming and obesity rates-has been described as an epidemic. This paper explores the rise of an "epidemiological imaginary" in which the language of epidemiology proves increasingly persuasive as a way to understand social and political life. This paper explains this imaginary as a reaction to widespread destabilizations of social space, and examines the implicit and explicit political consequences of this way of seeing the world. Ultimately, we argue that the metaphorics of infection resonates with the experience of globalization, but that its political effects depend on its ability to intermix with more concrete political ideologies

The buoyancy of failure: Battling nature in New Orleans

New Orleans and the Mississippi River are often described as a battleground in the war between man and nature. The authors argue that crisis displacement strategies disincline reflection on how this characterization contributes to catastrophic events. The authors outline three sites of crisis displacement: the Army Corps of Engineers, media coverage, and the philosophy of war of the United States government