Editors ’ Note
Editors ’ Note
Welcome to the twelfth issue of Under Construction . In this issue we have yet another fascinating range of articles to share with you , all original work produced by our postgraduates at Keele University . As editors , we have enjoyed the opportunity to read such an eclectic and stimulating range of pieces .
Billy Surr ’ s article ‘ Arendt Against the Tradition : ‘ Power over ’ and ‘ Power with ’’ examines Hannah Arendt ’ s reconceptualisation of power structures . By seeing the organisation of power as a ‘ horizontal sharing ’ rather than a ‘ vertical hierarchy ’, Arendt departs from traditional political realism . This paper analyses Arendt ’ s postulation that the domination and coercion expressed ‘ over ’ others in political realism is opposed to a utilisation of power ‘ with ’ others , thereby offering a new , radical framework of power .
Under Construction mainstay Nick Sheldon publishes his final piece for the Journal , entitled ‘ S- Theory and the Lost Paradigm of Science ’. This provides a compelling examination of Stuart Dodd ' s largely forgotten positivistic alternative to contemporary ' mathematics-free ' approaches to the social sciences , arguing that technological advances mean that this sophisticated system - although once considered unworkable – “ may be worth reconsidering ."
Next is Shaina Paggett ’ s piece ‘ The Posthuman in the Contemporary ’, which explores the notion of the ' posthuman ' using the novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and the American teen drama television series Riverdale . In doing do , constructions of the worlds , traumas and characters of the novel and the drama are explored in relation to epistemological and ontological questions of selfhood in the face of speculative and existing technological realities .
Daisy Cowley ’ s second article for Under Construction , entitled ‘ Femme Fatale as Performance : Dashiell Hammett ' s Femme Fatale and Butler ' s Performativity ' interprets the actions of Hammett ' s noir character Brigid O ' Shaughnessy through the lens of Judith Butler ' s philosophy of performativity . It offers a case study of the archetypal femme fatale where women are restricted by the gendering of interactions , yet conscious of and able to manipulate their expected behaviour . This piece progressively demonstrates the real-world implications of forcing male / female categories on the way people should act , and the resulting struggle for agency for the individuals left powerless .