just don't call it critical theory

Critical race theory is getting bashed these days so I don't want to say this post is about critical feminist theory. Nonetheless, I just listened to most of the keynote address by Lauren Klein at the 2021 LD4 Conference on Linked Data. I was thoroughly heartened by her statement that working to change a system is worth it if it has a long history and is widely used. This was said in the context of a question about whether it's worth it to fix outdated and offensive terminology in LCSH and other vocabularies or should you just start over. She applied her theoretical work based on intersectional feminism to say that we should topple the hierarchy, smash the binary, and embrace pluralism. Use LCSH, try to fix it, supplement it in the short term by other vocabulary. Both/and, not either/or.

separated at birth: Boullée and Bourgeois

 

  Étienne-Louis Boullée,

cenotaph for Isaac Newton after plans by Boullée,

model by Bernd Grimm, photo by Jan Kraege

(image from Wikimedia Commons)

Louise Bourgeois,

Untitled, 1991-2000, white marble

MASS MoCA, photo taken 13 July 2021