The name of the strict father

I’ve been thinking about how I used the concept of the big Other to describe the manner by which Ranil Wickremesinghe, the current Sri Lankan President, functions with a section of the electorate that supports him. https://twitter.com/rajit_h/status/1547386139472199683?s=61&t=qy9dc_UC7o7gX5duEQJkuQ Recently, after some theatrics in Parliament by him, I referenced the (non-Lacanian) strict father model. https://twitter.com/rajit_h/status/1628671355649683459?s=61&t=oPwwWezWWxnELuIstV7oLw Both these … Continue reading The name of the strict father →

The SJB-JVP battle for votes

The jockeying for voters between the NPP/JVP and the SJB provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the importance of ideology and identity for a political party. https://twitter.com/ravirannaneliya/status/1628239362352881664 As things stand, polling suggests while ex-SLPP voters are moving to other main parties, the greatest number have gone to the JVP. https://twitter.com/ravirannaneliya/status/1628239374172422145 A question that I’ve … Continue reading The SJB-JVP battle for votes →

The future of “Go Home Gota”: Occupy Wall Street?

Occupy was, at its core, a movement constrained by its own contradictions: filled with leaders who declared themselves leaderless, governed by a consensus-based structure that failed to reach consensus, and seeking to transform politics while refusing to become political.https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/the-triumph-of-occupy-wall-street/395408/ If one is searching for movements analogous to “Go Home Gota”, Occupy Wall Street is a … Continue reading The future of “Go Home Gota”: Occupy Wall Street? →

Yahapalanaya & “Go home Gota” as master signifiers

A couple of introductory notes: This section of the Wikipedia article on the 2015 Sri Lankan Presidential election gives some idea of the complex dynamics of Yahapalanya. For an understanding of current events in Sri Lanka, and the "Go home Gota" movement, I recommend this.A summary of what is meant by a master signifier can … Continue reading Yahapalanaya & “Go home Gota” as master signifiers →

The creation of the subject and reality: some notes on theory

PART of Constructing a Party Core to our system is understanding humans as a "subject" and the idea that reality is a social construction. This reality can be manipulated through institutions to form a voter (subject) that will vote for the party. The human as a subject In theories of human subjectivity, a distinction is made … Continue reading The creation of the subject and reality: some notes on theory →

Crypto as a semiotic sign and a master signifier

What is a sign in semiotics? A linguistic sign1 is not a link between a thing and a name, but between a concept [signified] and a sound pattern [signifier]. This link is arbitrary -- anything can be signified by any word. As the figure above illustrates, the sign "Crypto" represents a number of concepts prevalent … Continue reading Crypto as a semiotic sign and a master signifier →

the big Other(s)

I'm reading the book, "Six Moments in Lacan: Communication and identification in psychology and psychoanalysis" and the first chapter immediately struck me as providing a way to analyse seemingly irreconcilable political divides globally and in the US in particular. I've chosen to cite some findings from PRRI's 2021 American Values Survey to give context to … Continue reading the big Other(s) →

Stenner, authoritarianism & winning over status quo conservatives

As someone from the left/liberal camp, a fascinating Twitter thread led me to discovering potential communication tactics for "status quo conservatives" and how to differentiate them from voters with authoritarian tendencies. https://twitter.com/dasvee/status/1450404018258391046 The tweets are largely based on the work of Karen Stenner, a political psychologist and behavioural economist. Stenner's research leads her to conclude … Continue reading Stenner, authoritarianism & winning over status quo conservatives →

Constructing reality: COVID & economy messaging in Sri Lanka

Prior to reading this, it may help to read my page on Constructing Reality, which gives some basic theoretical background to this blog post. I’ve had a long-standing interest in how reality can be constructed, especially in a political context. Currently, it’s possible to observe this happening in Sri Lanka in a very instructive manner. … Continue reading Constructing reality: COVID & economy messaging in Sri Lanka →