Christopher T. Conner

QAnon, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Meaning diagnoses a particular social challenge facing Americans in the 21st century: the rise and spread of dangerous conspiracy theories across the internet. Rather than dismiss such theories as the product of delusions, this book argues that the true conspiracy these theorists are trying to uncover is really located in a critique of neoliberal capitalism, austerity, and economic precarity. The authors contextualize QAnon as a misguided response to larger economic conditions endemic to late capitalism. Such a scholarly approach provides unique insight into some of the salient factors that make conspiracy theories such as QAnon so popular at a time of unprecedented information literacy. In their assessment, fighting conspiracy theories thus requires a radical realignment of the social, political, and economic priorities of the United States.

Electronic Dance Music: From Deviant Subculture to Culture Industry explores the subculture’s emergence as a deviant subculture. This text analyzes how industry professionals, fans, and public officials helped usher in a new age of EDM, arguing that while the defining features of the subculture made it attractive, they also laid the foundations for outsiders to commodify the movement as a culture industry. Conner and Dickens explore the concept of “commodified resistance” as the mechanism by which the movement's politically dissident features were removed and its place as a multi-billion-dollar industry made possible. Ultimately, this text advocates the continued utility of the culture industry thesis through an empirical analysis of the EDM subculture.Check out an interview with the author on the New Books Network podcast here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/electronic-dance-music

Electronic Dance Music: From Deviant Subculture to Culture Industry explores the subculture’s emergence as a deviant subculture. This text analyzes how industry professionals, fans, and public officials helped usher in a new age of EDM, arguing that while the defining features of the subculture made it attractive, they also laid the foundations for outsiders to commodify the movement as a culture industry. Conner and Dickens explore the concept of “commodified resistance” as the mechanism by which the movement's politically dissident features were removed and its place as a multi-billion-dollar industry made possible. Ultimately, this text advocates the continued utility of the culture industry thesis through an empirical analysis of the EDM subculture.