AA

Tara McPherson's contribution to the ending discussion really grabbed my attention. I was mostly interested in her assertion that, in paraphrase, "academics tend to privilege their side of the binary" She further states that we must move beyond that using the tools critical theory has given us. I am curious as to how such an act might affect academic discourse, in this "good" progression do we risk a simple and reductive narritivization of the polysemic flow that she seeks to preserve? Furthermore, would this be achieved by merely stating the existence of the opposition? Would/Could there be an attempt to step away from the binary mode of thought?

Through the discussion of how to expand what can be academic research I thought of De Certeau's analysis of how those subscribing to the dominant ideology often fear catastrophe if their modes of understanding are threatened by emerging perspectives. The task of changing what can be viewed as academic research is perhaps a meta-interdisciplinary revision of "theories of misfortune [to the ruling class]"