Book Review: The Years of Theory – Fredric Jameson

Fredric Jameson, The Years of Theory. Postwar French Thought to the Present (Verso 2024)

Reviewed by Peter Beilharz

Who was Fredric Jameson? What were the years of Theory? Jameson died last year, leaving behind a thick and rich legacy of, well, Theory. Already in advance, the title of this book of lectures seems to anticipate the possibility that Theory may also be terminal. Has the moment of Theory then passed?

New Book: American Fascism and the Battle over Culture

by Christopher G. Robbins and Eric Ferris

This book examines the intensification of fascist politics in contemporary America via an analysis of the fundamental shift in relationships between political fringes and institutions of power, situating the rise of contemporary fascist politics within a broader culture of pedagogy.

Issue 191, December 2025 – Celebrating George Ritzer

This Festschrift honors the enduring legacy of George Ritzer, one of sociology’s most influential and recognizable figures. Ritzer’s scholarship has helped shape core areas of the discipline—ranging from consumption and social theory to globalization and beyond—while also generating new conceptual terrains such as McDonaldization, prosumption, and the study of “nothing” and “something.”

Ritzer’s Reach: Timely Reflections on a Global Sociological Legacy – An interview with J. Michael Ryan

George’s work is both timely and timeless. He has been, and continues to be, a sort of social seer, someone who is able to both see what is seemingly most relevant in the contemporary moment, but also that which is likely to remain impactful in the future. He not only sees what is worthy of critical analysis today, but also what is likely to be critical to analyze tomorrow.

Issue 189, August 2025 – Annihilation Aesthetics: The Disappearances of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

This special issue looks at the importance of imaginaries of total destruction – what we are electing to call annihilation aesthetics. The volume considers the historical present of technologically enabled violence, dealing in the process with concerns about mass terror and mediatisation, the logics of technological violence from the nuclear to the artificial age and the importance of culture in developing a viable critique.