…autofiction is a literary choice and more as a way of using the cloak of fiction, a way of protecting Carey’s loved ones. Yet this caution comes at a cost. The terms ‘mental illness’ or ‘depression’ used in the book and elsewhere about Carey simply fail to capture the ferocity of the death drive at work in her suffering…
The masculinity-in-crisis narrative is now familiar terrain for sociologists and cultural commentators. It is also a mobilising point for a type of nationalist politics associated with the alt-Right. The narrative is not new. It seems to resurface in periods of war or economic crisis where there is income insecurity, labour-market instability and a cultural fear of symbols of the 'foreign', variously located in immigration, race or gender. In uncertain and precarious times, it should not…
Notes towards a different reading of George Pell The death of Bruno Ganz in February 2019 brought to mind a scene from his memorable performance in Downfall in which he portrayed Hitler's trembling hands, carefully hidden behind his back as he greeted members of the Hitler Youth. This depiction came to mind when media cameras caught something of George Pell's frailty as he was being escorted to and from his recent trial. A semblance of…
Like Arena, the sociology of social movements is fifty years old. As in social movement theory, the nature, structure, contexts, theoretical conflicts and consequences of social movement activity have been debated continuously in and by Arena. It would be difficult to do justice to the scope and intensity of Arena's intellectual engagement with social movements and the questions provoked by both new and old forms of collective action. Any investigation, by definition, would be partial…
