Lewis Call is an American academic and central post-anarchist thinker. He is best known for his 2002 book ''Postmodern Anarchism'', which develops an account of

postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

through philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and cyberpunk writers such as William Gibson and

Bruce Sterling Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the ''Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre. Sterling's first ...

. Call has written extensively on the intersection of post-anarchism and science fiction, covering philosophers and authors such as

Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze ( , ; 18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volu ...

, Jean Baudrillard, Octavia Butler, Samuel R. Delany and Ursula K. Le Guin.

Life and work

Call graduated with a B.A. from University of California, San Diego followed by an M.A. and Ph.D. in Modern European History from the University of California, Irvine, finishing his studies in 1996. His doctoral dissertation was titled, ''Nietzsche as Critic and Captive of Enlightenment''. He is an associate professor in the History Department of

California Polytechnic State University California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Univ ...

in San Luis Obispo, where he teaches intellectual history, political economy and the history of network technology. Call also holds the position of Associate Editor of '' Anarchist Studies'', an international journal of anarchist theory. He received the Distinguished Lecturer Award from the California Faculty Association (California Polytechnic chapter) in 2005, and his paper "’Sounds Like Kinky Business to Me’: Subtextual and Textual Representations of Erotic Power in the Buffyverse" won ''Slayage'' journal's 2008 Mr. Pointy Award for Buffy studies Scholarship. Call is a dedicated practitioner of T'ai chi ch'uan.

Thought

Call is credited along with Saul Newman and Todd May with developing postanarchism from its roots in French

and classical

anarchist thought Anarchism is the political philosophy which holds ruling classes and the State (polity), state to be undesirable, unnecessary and harmful, The following sources cite anarchism as a political philosophy: Slevin, Carl. "Anarchism." ''The Concis ...

. Call has attempted to develop post-anarchist theory through the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, rejecting the

Cartesian Cartesian means of or relating to the French philosopher René Descartes—from his Latinized name ''Cartesius''. It may refer to: Mathematics *Cartesian closed category, a closed category in category theory *Cartesian coordinate system, modern ...

concept of the "

subject Subject ( la, subiectus "lying beneath") may refer to: Philosophy *''Hypokeimenon'', or ''subiectum'', in metaphysics, the "internal", non-objective being of a thing **Subject (philosophy), a being that has subjective experiences, subjective cons ...

". From here a radical form of anarchism is made possible; the anarchism of becoming. This anarchism does not have an eventual goal, nor flow into "being", it is not a final state of development, nor a static form of society, but rather becomes permanent, as a means without end. Call critiques liberal notions of language, consciousness, and rationality from an anarchist perspective, arguing that they are inherent in economic and political power within the capitalist state organization. Call's other research interests include intellectual history, science fiction studies, and the history of erotic power.

References

Selected bibliography

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External links

Faculty profile
at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo {{DEFAULTSORT:Call, Lewis Living people American anarchists Postanarchists Year of birth missing (living people)