Conservative media outlets have recently turned a great deal of attention to an improbable topic: critical race theory (CRT). This article draws on historical sources and content analyses to show that recent attacks on CRT build on well-established narratives about “cultural Marxism.” It further argues that, to attach the antipathy that familiar enemies inspire to new subjects, conserva…
This article places Makoto Shinkai's Kumo no muko, yakusoku no basho (The Place Promised in Our Early Days; Japan 2004) within the context of Lyotard's libidinal economy and the desire-laden structures of empire. The film's unstable narrative frame, its alternate history context and its focus on the dual figures of Sayuri and the Tower as metaphors and objects of colonial conquest are explorati…