Creating a New Establishment
February 22, 2010 6 Comments
Enhanced Interrogation Techniques and Dick Cheney
August 26, 2009 27 Comments
You Say Elitist, I Say Potato
However, experiences of the morning have brought a particular element of the whole foofaraw back into focus, namely the ways in which cultural cues are both deeply embedded and a priori inform our political discourse in what I take to be unhelpful ways.
The lead in: despite only working at the company wherein my employment currently resides for four and a half months, I have come to be considered management. I wasn’t hired into any kind of management specific role and to this day my job title and description remain ephemeral at best. None the less, walking around this office I am treated with a certain deference (unwarranted in my opinion) because of the perceived position of power I happen to occupy.
From my experience, when you’re management, it is important to demonstrate that no task with which any of your employees might become saddled is too small or too lowly for you to perform, as well. My conception of management, cast as it was in the fires of not-for-profit work, is that you recognize and acknowledge the power differential that tips in your favour, but that you conversely pitch in and participate in getting whatever work needs to get done.
Full stop, period, bottom line.
To that end, today I am wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and boots, both because I have to move the president of the company from an office in one building to and office back in the primary building, and because it happens to be casual Friday and the first day of Stampede here in Calgary. To move all of the items from one office to the next, I am also pushing a cart between the two buildings out in the public, in addition to wearing “moving office” appropriate clothing.
Now, because I look the way that I do and because I’m pushing a cart around, people with whom I’ve been interacting with outside have been treating me qualitatively differently than when I am, say, walking around in a suit and tie, which is my normal garb. Even with an event where jeans and a t-shirt are as ubiquitous as they are during Stampede currently running, there is a noticeable difference to how people approach me.
To the average passerby I am no longer “management”, I have become a physical labourer and they have altered their behaviour patterns towards me in what they take to be the appropriate fashion. It never enters their mind that the criteria by which they determine what behaviour patterns are appropriate are entirely arbitrary, all they know is that we have certain cultural cues about you treat certain classes of people and they are abiding by those cues — rightly or wrongly.
Nothing particularly controversial there.
The point: so it generally seems to go in our political discourse as well, but in the case of cultural cues that enter into our politics we have a few monkey wrenches that create difficulties for our smooth analysis. As pertains to politics and the culture wars, the use of cultural cues because key elements in normative statements of derision about “the other side” and their unfitness for ascendancy to the levers of governance within society.
So it also seems to go with Dan Riehl and Robert Stacy McCain (two examples, go through their respective websites for many other posts on this topic) as pertains to their reactions towards Conor Friedersdorf and the results here I take to be muddy at best.
Now, let’s get all the cards on the table before we move forward. [Read more →]
July 3, 2009 14 Comments
The Great Debate – Redux
June 15, 2009 28 Comments
Houston, We Have A Problem – UPDATED
June 9, 2009 2 Comments
Update On Friedersdorf/Riehl Discussion
June 8, 2009 Comments Off
Calling All Leaguers
The purpose of this post; however, is to solicit questions from you that can be put to Conor and Dan while we have them on the line. So fire away because both Dan and Conor, as well as everyone here at the League, are curious to see what you come up with. As always, keep it clean, civil, on topic, but still interesting and challenging.
Thanks much.
June 2, 2009 37 Comments
