Peer-reviewed publications

Degenerate Aristocrats: Gerontocracy and Representative Politics in Thomas Paine’s Works  

In this article, I explore the relationship between inherited power across generations and the ideals of a democratic politics. I draw on Paine’s view of hereditary rule and generational democracy to make two points: one related to Paine’s political thought and one related to the current problem of gerontocracy. For the former point, I contend that Paine’s view of generational democracy rests on an understanding of natural rights that necessitates an equitable transfer of wealth and political power to new generations. On the latter point, I argue that gerontocracy poses a problem for America’s political institutions to be seen as democratic; I contend that Paine’s rich view of generational democracy allows us to view gerontocracy beyond a rote “young vs. old” dynamic. Instead, gerontocracy can also be viewed as a political condition wherein the hold of the past — in all its inequalities, oppressions, and expropriations — remains unchallenged thereby denying the right of current and future generations to create a politically different, and possibly just, future.

The Lumpen in Marx’s Works and its Relevance for Contemporary Political Struggle

What does Marx mean by “lumpen” when he refers to the “lumpenproletariat” in his works? This article looks closely at the lumpen in Marx’s works and the secondary literature on Marx, tracking how Marx differentiates the lumpen from the proletariat and how his understanding of the lumpen changes throughout his works. Drawing on Marx’s later understanding of surplus-population as a creation of material conditions, I argue that a Marxian view of the lumpen rests on their precarious, transient, and insecure position to how capital categorizes productive labor. In the second half of this paper, I look at the place of lumpen dynamics in the context of the Black Panther Party and how a theory of the lumpen is necessary for fomenting class politics today.

Other scholarly writing

Governing Water: Three Vignettes on Bodies at the Waterfront (forthcoming)

In this article, I examine the history of Manhattan’s waterfront to “see” and represent capital and sovereignty in a globalized world. I do this by sketching the history of institutions that have governed Manhattan’s waterfront, how Carl Schmitt situates his theory of sovereignty in geographic terms (land and sea), and by looking at the art and writings of David Wojnarowicz that depict the cruising culture of New York during the late 20th century. Hoping to add something to the queer archive of cruising utopia, I contend that Wojnarowicz’s work allows us to see the experience of cruising on Manhattan’s waterfront as an anti-sovereign act that challenges the authority of capital and the state.