teaser quote from New Materialism

I love this passage from the Dolphijn/van der Tuin interview with Karen Barad:

“I am not interested in critique. In my opinion, critique is over-rated, over-emphasized, and over-utilized, to the detriment of feminism. As Bruno Latour signals in an article entitled ‘Why has critique run out of steam? From Matters of Fact to Matters of Concern’ (2004), critique is a tool that keeps getting used out of habit perhaps, but it is no longer the tool needed for the kinds of situations we now face. Critique has been the tool of choice for so long, and our students find themselves so well-trained in critique that they can spit out a critique with the push of a button. Critique is too easy, especially when a commitment to reading with care no longer seems to be a fundamental element of critique. So as I explain to my students, reading and writing are ethical practices, and critique misses the mark.”

Well stated.

Everyone’s a critic. Everyone’s detached. Everyone opposes. But then you are merely parasitical on that which you oppose.