cancel culture

2d:null 2e:["$","title",null,{"children":"\"_ culture\"? | proginoskes | Observable"}] 33:T15bf,html`

topic1

podcast

real

folks

publisher

campaigns

sexual

women

#shethinks

breaks

notion

pundit

obama

outrage

conservatives

jokes

touch

evaluate

truth

#iwregs

#standwithcarson

online

topic2

reckoning

michael jackson

world

show

coming

back

media

censorship

resisting

projared

offensive

responsible

canceled

topic3

filled

talk

sits

relevant

term

intent

scary

bias

kids

stories

pretend

free

point

fired

sjws

topic4

word

money

assault

years

making

makes

blah

bullying

movement

spot

speak

mob

conservatives

parties

interview

cynicism

topic5

discuss

justice

reform

criminal

event

whitehouse

attending

fighting

isaiah washington

#blexit

celebration

washington

joined

walkaway

back

#iwpol

chappelle

cjr

`34:T625,md` [//]: # (In the introduction to Lecture III of *Naming and Necessity*, Saul Kripke describes a process of naming. "The reference [of a name]," according to Kripke, "seems to be determined by the fact that the speaker is a member of a community of speakers who use the name." Any name maps onto some "thing", but that "thing" is consituted through social relationships. ) [//]: # (The term "cancel culture" names different things depending on who you ask. For some, it describes an onslaught. The most popular term among proponents of the words use is "reckoning" either in the sense that it requires a reckoning or it is a reckoning. Cancel culture is a monster. It is destructive, evil, toxic. Some primeval force coming up from the depths to fight against the innocent. Its intention is to ruin you.) [//]: # (Others say that, while it might name similar things, the onslaught it describes comes from (as one poster puts it) "a particular mode of production." It's not so much that the "cancel culture mob" is inherently viscious, it's that the society they live in is viscious, and teaches them to act in ways prone to punitive styles of thinking.) [//]: # (I'm wary of both of these ideas, and side more with those who believe the term itself is the problem. It seems to be used most by people who want other people to stop talking. To stop bringing up issues. I find more often than not. The name "cancel culture" maps to something I don't see in the world, or at least not directed toward the people toward whom its onslaught is thought to be directed.) `35:Te78,md` From an ideological standpoint, “__ culture” constructions are extremely useful. Few concepts other than culture are as good at describing concentrism — culture pervades every level of our existence, from the personal to the large structural systems that influence the personal. In Dick Hebidge’s Subculture: the Meaning of Style, the sociologist calls this perspective of culture, “culture as ‘a whole way of life’” which contrasts the “standard of excellence” model of culture (culture as the “best” things culture produces). Culture, in either respect is both the product of societies and the societies themselves. Culture also describes a set of values, a general intention toward some product. “Western culture,” from a “standard of excellence” model might be bourgeois taste — that which selects Mozart, Beethoven, the Great American Novel, or Pablo Picasso from an array of “lesser subjects” — where from a “way of life” model it might be a way of arranging society, or a certain behavioral motif. Taking Hebidge's model of "a whole way of life" the phrase "cancel culture" or really any "__ culture" construction is an assertion that there exists a group whose entire way of life is devoted to reproducing a certain phenomenon. For "Western Culture" that would be the production and defense of "The West" as both a concept and a material entity. "Mass Culture," meanwhile, defines a culture centered around the cultivation and education of the masses, the general public. To claim that either of these cultures are real is to claim both that the prefix ("Mass", "The West", etc.) is real, and that there are a number of connected people committed to its reproduction. The term “Rape Culture” emerged in 1970s feminist circles and gained a clear public definition in 1975 following the release of _Rape Culture_, a documentary by Margaret Lazarus and Renner Wunderlich that followed the relationship between a prison anti-rape group and the DC Rape Crisis Center. Contextualizing the relationship between the two groups, and the challenges they faced, the producers of the documentary outlined the ways in which the media and other connected groups encourage rape to happen. In this way, feminists could better articulate the all-encompassing violence of patriarchy, basing their analysis in culture and the fallout of patriarchal rape-culture. This term, I believe, is an ancestor to the term "cancel culture." “Rape Culture" attests that a group of connected people (that is, the whole of society) maintain a goal of causing rape to occur. This concept is typically used to encourage greater reflection on how each person in society enables sexual violence, and how each person can stop it. People who tend to believe in "cancel culture" see something similar, that a group of connected people are focused on perpetuating "cancellations," what they consider a social trauma. It's ironic, then, that many of the names found in the above graphic are people known for sexual misconduct or assault. Culture is not mob mentality. I think it's better to think of it as synergy. Richard Buckminster Fuller defines synergy as “[the] behavior of whole systems unpredicted by the separately observed behaviors of any of the system's separate parts or any sub-assembly of the system's parts”. Culture is not planned, nor is it easily predicted except through some kind of science. Unless one applies a theoretical framework to the world — and communicates with others to compare findings from this application — culture will be unpredictable, its products unexpected, and without proper analysis its behavior may seem terrible. `36:T574,viewof view = embed({ $schema: 'https://vega.github.io/schema/vega-lite/v4.json', data: {url:'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/proginoskes/cancel_fall2019/master/verif_top_ten_tweets.json'}, width: 700, height: 450, config:{legend:{labelColor:'black', fillColor: 'lightgrey'}, axis:{labelColor:'white'}, mark:{opacity:0.7}}, encoding: {x: {field: 'date', type: 'temporal'}}, layer: [ { encoding:{x: {field: 'date', type : 'temporal',timeUnit:'year,month,date', color:'white'}, size : {aggregate:'count',type:'quantitative', "scale": {minSize: 450}}, y:{field:'username',type:'nominal'}, color:{field:'username',type:'nominal'} }, layer: [ {mark: 'circle'}, {transform: [{filter: {selection: 'hover'}}], mark: 'point'} ] }, { transform: [{pivot: 'symbol', value: 'price', groupby: ['date']}], mark: 'rule', encoding: { opacity: {condition: {value: 0.7, selection: 'hover', color:'white'},value: 0}, color:{value:'lightblue'}, tooltip: [ {aggregate: 'count', type: 'quantitative'} ] }, selection: { hover: { type: 'single', fields: ['date'], nearest: true, on: 'mouseover', empty: 'none', clear: 'mouseout' } } } ] })37:T56d,viewof view2 = embed({ $schema: 'https://vega.github.io/schema/vega-lite/v4.json', data: {url:'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/proginoskes/cancel_fall2019/master/unv_namedate.json'}, width: 700, height: 450, config:{legend:{labelColor:'black', fillColor: 'lightgrey'}, axis:{labelColor:'white'}, mark:{opacity:0.7}}, encoding: {x: {field: 'date', type: 'temporal'}}, layer: [ { encoding:{x: {field: 'date', type : 'temporal',timeUnit:'year,month,date', color:'white'}, size : {aggregate:'count',type:'quantitative', "scale": {minSize: 450}}, y:{field:'username',type:'nominal'}, color:{field:'username',type:'nominal'} }, layer: [ {mark: 'circle'}, {transform: [{filter: {selection: 'hover'}}], mark: 'point'} ] }, { transform: [{pivot: 'symbol', value: 'price', groupby: ['date']}], mark: 'rule', encoding: { opacity: {condition: {value: 0.7, selection: 'hover', color:'white'},value: 0}, color:{value:'lightblue'}, tooltip: [ {aggregate: 'count', type: 'quantitative'} ] }, selection: { hover: { type: 'single', fields: ['date'], nearest: true, on: 'mouseover', empty: 'none', clear: 'mouseout' } } } ] })38:T4ea,md` In the early 2010s, feminist scholarship became more significant online. Marking this transition was an increase in discussion around rape culture. One product of this, I would attest to, is a popularization of the “_ culture” construction. I think it is safe to say that most people who find “cancel culture” legible as a term also would be able to interpret “rape culture”, though I could not find any evidence that would suggest an inseparable connection between the two (aside from that which can be used in analysis). “Cancel culture,” as a phrase, is particularly tricky to analyse. It carries with it entirely unpredictable elements, unless placed within the proper framework. The phrase is, as the above charts show, more of a cultural product than a top-down one — at least on twitter. However, its political valence is muddied. It is important, however, to acknowledge that many of the advocates of the term’s usefulness are associated with far-right groups — “BLEXIT”, in the red-and-white chart, for example was an event associated with noted supporter of white nationalism Candace Owens — while a good portion of tweets critical of the concept came from Black-feminist accounts like @blackamazon and @wagatwe. `39:Ta05, html` `3a:T45a,html` `3b:[] 31:{"id":"2f3414a2663b5fbb","slug":"_-culture","title":"\"_ culture\"?","thumbnail":"8d1d79895ac3112cd98a58a31ed93cb38361cbbd20695b614acf848b68fb2f44","access_level":"public","create_time":"$D2019-12-13T19:05:32.336Z","update_time":"$D2021-03-11T15:45:54.769Z","view_time":null,"first_public_time":"$D2019-12-13T19:34:46.621Z","has_unpublished_edits":null,"fork":true,"stars":1,"starred":false,"owner":{"type":"team","id":"53c611a0043819dc","login":"proginoskes","name":"","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/52cd942f624fc58ee95a1295716697360b09efde8922ac3081464fdf08847f9a","tier":"starter_2024"},"version":475,"publish_version":475,"role":null,"authored":false,"authors":[{"type":"individual","id":"b3a967d96624c1ee","login":"proginoskes","name":"","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/52cd942f624fc58ee95a1295716697360b09efde8922ac3081464fdf08847f9a","tier":null}],"members":[{"type":"individual","id":"b3a967d96624c1ee","login":"proginoskes","name":"","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/52cd942f624fc58ee95a1295716697360b09efde8922ac3081464fdf08847f9a","tier":null,"role":"editor"}],"comments":[],"custom_thumbnail":false,"trashed":false,"lapsed":null,"subscribed":null,"forks":0,"collection":null,"type":"notebook","body":{"title":"\"_ culture\"?","cells":[{"id":284,"value":"md`\n# \"_ culture\"?\n`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":455,"value":"md ` ##### cw: sexual assault, discussion of rape culture, discussion of social ostracism`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":49,"value":"$33","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":297,"value":"html``","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":52,"value":"html``","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":270,"value":"html`\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":94,"value":"md``","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":101,"value":"md``","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":97,"value":"md``","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":277,"value":"html``\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":108,"value":"html``","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":120,"value":"html``","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":123,"value":"html``","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":126,"value":"html``","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":296,"value":"html`\n

\n mouse over for description\n

above is an association of topics drawn from tweets that believe in cancel culture. mouse over the word \"topic\" to isolate the grouping.

to create this association, i sent a collection of tweets through a topic modeling algorithm. to be honest i am not sure how that worked. i was operating on the \"black box\" principle, that a programmer must trust that the tools they are using do what they say they do. this is similar to how we imagine language - we have an instinctual understanding of syntax and meaning, without knowing where the rules and connections in language come from. i have been informed that \"topic modeling\" is a way of grouping text based an common themes. these are five themes that arose from people who believe cancel culture exists.

\n`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":25,"value":"$34","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":369,"value":"$35","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":260,"value":"md`\n\n\n\n\n\n[//]: # (I've been trying to watch other comedy specials and they're all trash. This is the first one I haven't turned off in the first 10 mins. It's very spot on today's cancel culture.)\n\n[//]: # (Affirmative: 2 *[this tweet believes in cancel culture]*)\n\n\n\n\n\n[//]: # (John Bolton was a victim of cancel culture. Sad)\n\n[//]: # (Affirmative: 1 *[this tweet might believe in cancel culture]*)\n\n\n\n\n\n[//]: # (SNL reversing its decision to hire Shane Gillis isn’t a triumph of cancel culture or political correctness or whatever else idiots will label it. It is the swift and appropriate rectification of a mistake.)\n\n[//]: # (Affirmative: 0 *[this tweet doesn't believe in cancel culture]*)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":387,"value":"md`\n## \"cancel culture\"\n\nIn context with other “_ culture” constructs, “cancel culture” would be one in which “cancelling” someone — removing their cultural capital — becomes both a product and a process of society. To agree with the concept of “cancel culture” would be to say that sociological systems are in place which encourage “cancellation”\n\nHowever, I cannot produce a single working definition for cancel culture. I can only attest that, as a name, it arose in reaction to an increasingly critical online environment, in which calls for deplatforming people with regressive social roles has become increasingly common. According to those who believe in cancel culture, it is — most glaringly — a “reckoning”, something dangerous that is coming for you. Others say the phrase itself is more often used to silence people, to get them to stop being critical of power\n\n`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":17,"value":"$36","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":403,"value":"html`\n

\n These two charts depict the frequency of use of the phrase \"cancel culture\" over time for ten users each — the top chart concerning verified users, the bottom concerning unverified users. It should be noted that verified users solidified their use of the term later than the rest of twitter. Are verified users behind the times?\n

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\nacknowledgements\n

\n\n

\n\nThis essay is a version of one produced for David Wilson's Sociolinguistics course (Swarthmore College; fall 2020). It was also produced in collaboration with Nabil Kashyap and Roberto Vargas as part of the 2020 Digital Scholarship Fellows at Swarthmore Libraries. \n

\n\n`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":104,"value":"$39","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":321,"value":"$3a","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":151,"value":"$$(\"#topic1\").on(\"mouseenter\", function(d) {\n $(\".word-top1\").css(\"opacity\", \"1\");\n $(\"#topic1\").css(\"background-color\",\"red\");\n}).on(\"mouseleave\", function(d) {\n $(\".word-top1\").css(\"color\", \"blue\");\n $(\".word-top1\").css(\"opacity\", \"0\");\n $(\".word-top2\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top3\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top4\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top5\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\"#topic1\").css(\"background-color\",\"black\");\n})\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":187,"value":"$$(\"#topic2\").on(\"mouseenter\", function(d) {\n $(\".word-top1\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top2\").css(\"opacity\", 1);\n $(\".word-top3\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top4\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top5\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\"#topic2\").css(\"background-color\",\"red\");\n}).on(\"mouseleave\", function(d) {\n $(\".word-top2\").css(\"color\", \"yellow\");\n $(\".word-top1\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top3\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top4\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top5\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\"#topic2\").css(\"background-color\",\"black\");\n})\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":240,"value":"$$(\"#topic3\").on(\"mouseenter\", function(d) {\n $(\".word-top3\").css(\"opacity\", 1);\n $(\".word-top1\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top2\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top4\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top5\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\"#topic3\").css(\"background-color\",\"red\");\n}).on(\"mouseleave\", function(d) {\n $(\".word-top3\").css(\"color\", \"orange\");\n $(\".word-top1\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top2\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top4\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top5\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\"#topic3\").css(\"background-color\",\"black\");\n})\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":241,"value":"$$(\"#topic4\").on(\"mouseenter\", function(d) {\n $(\".word-top1\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top2\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top3\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top4\").css(\"opacity\", 1);\n $(\".word-top5\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\"#topic4\").css(\"background-color\",\"red\");\n}).on(\"mouseleave\", function(d) {\n $(\".word-top4\").css(\"color\", \"violet\");\n $(\".word-top1\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top2\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top3\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top5\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\"#topic4\").css(\"background-color\",\"black\");\n})\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":246,"value":"$$(\"#topic5\").on(\"mouseenter\", function(d) {\n $(\".word-top1\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top3\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top4\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top2\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top5\").css(\"opacity\", 1);\n $(\"#topic5\").css(\"background-color\",\"red\");\n}).on(\"mouseleave\", function(d) {\n $(\".word-top5\").css(\"color\", \"pink\");\n $(\".word-top1\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top3\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top4\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\".word-top2\").css(\"opacity\", 0);\n $(\"#topic5\").css(\"background-color\",\"black\");\n})\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":5,"value":"$$ = require('jquery')","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":7,"value":"vegalite = require(\"@observablehq/vega-lite@0.2\")","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":4,"value":"embed = require('vega-embed@4')","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":0,"value":"html`cancel culture`","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"}],"files":"$W3b","stdlib":"1","titling":"auto"}} 32:"$31:body"