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  1. critical theory

Letters

I appreciated Mark Bauerlein’s recent essay “System’s Failure” (November 2023) on some of the many flaws in “systemic bias.” There is, however, a much easier way to dismiss the whole enterprise out of hand: when proponents are unwilling to start with the government’s K–12 education . . . . Continue Reading »

System’s Failure

When Ibram X. Kendi and other anti-racists take the fact of disproportionate outcomes as proof of racist practice at work, common sense asks, “Who’s doing it? Where’s the bias? Show us the evidence.” Common sense treats racism (or any other identity injustice) as an empirical matter, an . . . . Continue Reading »

Critical Grace Theory

As debates over critical race theory rage on, both in society and within the church, one important point seems to have been missed by all sides: Many of the most important biblical writers were among the sharpest critical theorists of their day. I may be naive to imagine that an appreciation of the . . . . Continue Reading »

Judith Butler’s Trouble

A Berkeley student approaches two older women. She has a flier in her hand. “Hey, happy No-Pants Day!” she exclaims, in the state of undress to match her words. One woman waves her off. The other is Judith Butler, perhaps the most famous theoretician of gender and its undoing. Butler laughs and . . . . Continue Reading »

Reactionary Shakespeare

Holding a Mirror Up to Nature opens with the story of Walter Manstein, “a distinguished-looking man in his late forties” with a successful career as a publisher. On the night of their twentieth wedding anniversary, Manstein strangled his wife to death with the leash of her pet dog. . . . . Continue Reading »

Insider-Outsiders

Whatever Fred Moten is up to, it must be brilliant. Moten, a professor of performance studies at NYU, was awarded a MacArthur grant in 2020, a Guggenheim fellowship in 2016, and numerous awards for his poetry. He holds degrees in English from two of the highest-rated English departments in the . . . . Continue Reading »

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