Robert Smith
= R.C. Smith is a political theorist grounded in critical theory who researches alternative social change approaches based on mutual recognition and prefigurative social practice
Profile
John Wisniewski:
"In 2011, R.C. Smith published his first book: Consciousness and Revolt. This was followed by a collection of essays, over fifty individual articles and papers, and his most recent book which focuses on a critique of Slavoj Žižek’s Lacanian theory of the subject (with emphasis on an far-reaching alternative to Žižek’s philosophical and political project).
While the subject or focus of his writing may vary from a critique of democracy and the rise of the mass-surveillance state to education and psychology, at the heart of these engagements is the constant presence of an alternative view of social change, which Smith sees at work in the prefigurative, mutually recogntive, grassroots politics of Occupy-style movements.
Focusing on issues of practice, organisation and even a broad critique of politics, Smith explores the revolutionary character of Occupy-style politics while taking on an interdisciplinary perspective (rooted in critical theory) that challenges the popular view of revolutionary change. In the process he offers a thought provoking critique of the history of revolutionary social movements, society and dominating social systems, arguing toward the need for a foundational and holistic view of social, political and economic transformation.
In this two-part interview, a range of issues are explored and the intimacies of the idea of an alternative philosophy of systemic change are considered." (http://www.heathwoodpress.com/exploring-horizon-social-political-economic-change-interview-r-c-smith-john-wisniewski-part-1/)