No topic is inherently political or apolitical
Evidence
What kind of conversation is supposed to work this magic? Political conversation, of course. But what is that? It is not simply ”conversation that refers to some group of objects out there in the world, called ‘political’ objects.” Why not? Any object is potentially political — or not. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 139
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines political conversation as distinct from talk referring to ‘political objects’ since any object may or may not be political.
- XREF: connects to: A political topic need not yield public-spirited talk, nor vice versa; Ideological elements carry no fixed political meaning by themselves — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 737; No selection of what to know is politically or socially neutral. — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures, 545 (+9 more)
Broader Connections
- Ideological elements carry no fixed political meaning by themselves
#corroborates(0.92) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 737 - No selection of what to know is politically or socially neutral.
#corroborates(0.92) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 545 - Religion carries no necessary political meaning but is anchored in tendential historical formations
#corroborates(0.90) - Ideological elements like racism and nationalism have no necessary class belonging
#corroborates(0.88) - No description is ideologically neutral; describing constructs its own object
#corroborates(0.85) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 384 - Dialogue is inherently a political act, not art for art’s sake
#contradicts(0.85) — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 723 - Postmodern discourse makes all cultural positions secretly political, except the overtly political
#complicates(0.85) - A political topic need not yield public-spirited talk, nor vice versa
#qualifies(0.80) - A topic’s political content matters less than whether it is discussed public-spiritedly.
#qualifies(0.80) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 152 - The sheer act of communicating on the Web carries political weight regardless of content
#complicates(0.80) — Theresa M. Senft, Camgirls, 71 - Polarized political moments left no neutral brand position available
#complicates(0.75) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 475 - Framing talk as fact-exchange makes political conversation feel intimidating and pointless.
#expands(0.75) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1013