Residential life, political life, and zombies: a very serious article
By: Michael Freedman
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Opinion
Patriarchy, White Gaze, Capitalism, and Macalester Residential Life: what do these four things have in common? Up until last Friday my answer would have been "nothing" - three seem to be elements of ideology that serve to normalize domination and construct reality in such a way as to make oppression a structural necessity of a system of false consciousness, and the fourth is the wing of the Mac administration that keeps the dorms clean. However, an article in last week's Mac weekly opened my eyes to how I was thinking in the exact way the system wanted me to think, in much the same way that Keanu Reaves had his eyes opened to how he was thinking like the system wanted him to think in the greatest sci-fi movie of our generation……….the 2008 remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. This article showed me that the four things listed above are actually four sides of the same poorly minted coin. I write here today to offer but a single criticism, that the conclusion of said article did not go far enough.
A quick review of the author's argument: they cite an instance in which their friend was caught smoking Salvia in the dorms, and was promptly launched into the Res Life project of reeducation (therapy) meant to turn her back into a happy brainless subject of the Brian Rosenberg panopticon, or as I like to call it the BROPTICON. They go on to explain that Res Life, rather than facilitating autonomous spaces for the realization of Salvia smoking Ubermenschs, is only interested in "enforcing the daily cooperation of students who will begin to adhere to their standards and thus self discipline".
The link to Hegemony is then made clear. In the exact same way capitalism functions as a tool to not only oppress the masses by force, but to construct their reality in such a way as to make them complacent in the oppressive system, Res Life is not content to only oppress us by force but to construct our reality so they don't have to. Towards the end of the piece (indeed the manifesto) the authors sight French thinker and avid wakeboarding enthusiast Michel Foucault. The quote, which in no way was taken out of context, reads "Thus discipline produces practiced bodies, docile bodies", thus summing up the authors argument.
A quick review of the author's argument: they cite an instance in which their friend was caught smoking Salvia in the dorms, and was promptly launched into the Res Life project of reeducation (therapy) meant to turn her back into a happy brainless subject of the Brian Rosenberg panopticon, or as I like to call it the BROPTICON. They go on to explain that Res Life, rather than facilitating autonomous spaces for the realization of Salvia smoking Ubermenschs, is only interested in "enforcing the daily cooperation of students who will begin to adhere to their standards and thus self discipline".
The link to Hegemony is then made clear. In the exact same way capitalism functions as a tool to not only oppress the masses by force, but to construct their reality in such a way as to make them complacent in the oppressive system, Res Life is not content to only oppress us by force but to construct our reality so they don't have to. Towards the end of the piece (indeed the manifesto) the authors sight French thinker and avid wakeboarding enthusiast Michel Foucault. The quote, which in no way was taken out of context, reads "Thus discipline produces practiced bodies, docile bodies", thus summing up the authors argument.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Jacob Weindling
posted 5/04/09 @ 11:42 PM CST
"Besides the genocidal implications of the Res Life political structure..."
I take serious offense to this implication of an implication. I also take serious offense to the clear discrimination being exacted against the living dead. (Continued…)
William Clarke '07
posted 5/07/09 @ 11:25 PM CST
The real question is: Where is the muselman in all of this?
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