Christopher Powell

International School of Radical Relationism (external link) 

I'm currently using relational sociology and complex systems theory to investigate the challenges of implementing radically democratic decisionmaking. The goal of radical socialism is for working people to control the means of production – in other words, radical democracy in the production and distribution of social life. Attempts to implement radical democracy on a large scale and over time have tended either to fall apart or degenerate into new authoritarianisms. Using formal methods from complexity science could pinpoint the emergent dynamics that lead to bad outcomes, enabling new techniques for scaling up egalitarian relationships.

I teach and supervise on the horns of a contradiction. On the one hand, universities are elitist by design. They work to reproduce cultural capital and thereby to naturalize social hierarchies, perpetuating the myth that capitalism is a meritocracy in which some people deserve more than others. On the other hand, public universities and academic freedom allow space for egalitarian, anti-oppressive practices. Supervision in particular allows considerable scope for a teaching relationship that centers the student and their learning needs. As much as I can, I try to enact my supervisory role as a nurturer, not a disciplinarian. My goal is to help the student define their own project and to share my knowledge and experience in ways that help the student realize that project on their own terms. This includes working against the grain of classist, cisheteronormative, white supremacist, settler-colonial, ablist, and ageist norms built into standard disciplinary practices. I'm still learning to be an anti-oppressive teacher, and every student I work with teaches me in new and surprising ways.

Recent publications

My most recent publication, which gives a good indication of my current research interests, is:

Powell, Christopher (2023) “Radical Complexity: Using Concepts From Complex Systems Theory to Think About Socialist Transformation”, New Proposals: Journal of Marxism and Interdisciplinary Theory 13(1).

Other publications that represent my current interests include:

Powell, Christopher (2016) “Revitalizing the Ethnosphere: Global Society, Ethnodiversity, and the Stakes of Cultural Genocide.” Genocide Studies and Prevention, v. 10(1), pp. 44-59.

Powell, Christopher (2013) “Radical Relationism: A Proposal” in François Dépelteau and Christopher Powell, eds., Conceptualizing Relational Sociology: Ontological and Theoretical Issues. New York: Palgrave. Pp. 187-207.

ComCult Supervisory Activities

2024 - Melody Devries; Ph.D. Dissertation: Practical Political Conviction: Ethnographic Tracings of Far-Right & Con-Spiritual Becoming in Everyday Life with Media

ComCult Teaching Activities

• CC 8905 MA Research Specialization and Practice