Douglas Kellner

Kellner attended Doane College for his bachelor's degree, studying in Copenhagen for his junior year and graduating in 1965. Kellner then went on to Columbia University, earning a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1973. During his time at Columbia, Kellner partook in student protests against the Vietnam War. During this time he also came to believe in the political nature of knowledge as well as the relationship between history and the production of ideas. Kellner's work in the area of media culture has been influential for educators concerned with fostering "critical media literacy" capable of decoding the complexities of the visual culture that surrounds us. Another equally important line of inquiry defining Kellner's work is his interest in "techno-capitalism" or capitalism defined by ever sophisticated advances in technology. Thus Kellner has been at the forefront of theorizing new technologies and their social, political, and economic impacts. His interest in technologies began in the mid-seventies while a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Here Kellner studied the political economy of television producing the renowned and original works Television and the Crisis of Democracy and The Persian Gulf Television War as well as launching his own very successful alternative culture public-access television cable TV show entitled Alternative Views. As with his theories of media images, Kellner offers a dialectical approach to new technologies, highlighting their progressive and democratic potentials while also critiquing the undeniable reality of corporate interests that drive the technologies market. Again, this work has become increasingly important for educators concerned with the role of technology in the classroom. Indeed, Kellner has focused studies in education on explicating media literacy and the multiple literacies needed to critically engage culture in the contemporary era. On this basis, he has called for a democratic reconstruction of education for the new digitized, mediated, global, and multicultural era. == Contributions to theory ==

Multiple technoliteracies In his work on media literacy, Kellner argued that learning competency in interpreting and criticizing various forms of media is essential to resisting the dominant social order. Kellner established literacy as the ability to effectively use “socially constructed forms of communication and representation.” He viewed media literacy as essential to maintaining an ethical society through the technological revolution and emphasized competence at navigating computers, multimedia, and media (films and television) in order to understand and stand apart from larger social forces. Multiple technoliteracies, in his view, is a counterhegemonic skill used in advancing the “interests of democratization and progressive transformation” with new technologies. Techno-capitalism Kellner proposed a theory of techno-capitalism as an alternative to post-capitalist social theories. Instead of categorizing the “information age” as a stage past capitalism, he defined it as a new configuration of capitalism on the basis that technology was ultimately influenced by the same imperatives and control. Kellner viewed techno-capitalism as a separate development due to the forces of scientific advancement, computers, automation, and advanced technology playing a role “in the process of production parallel to the role of human power.” The automation of labor increases at the expense of human manual labor, creating new importance placed on white-collar, managerial, and technical roles. The working class is fragmented from strong labor unions to independent, fragmented workers without much group influence, and power is concentrated in the hands of a few global conglomerates. Thus, under techno-capitalism, exploitation of the working class is increased. Critical postmodern theory Kellner describes Critical Postmodern Theory as a counteraction toward the Enlightenment ideals of social reason and progress under the terms of labor and economy. Essentially, Kellner reveals how many enlightenment ideas stem from the beginning stages of capitalism, such as instrumental rationality and capitalist labor processes. Critical Postmodern theory expresses the capitalistic influence within many social structures, such as bureaucracy and the economy. Supradisciplinary materialism Supradispinary materialism defines the unification between social philosophy and science as it recognizes the differences between social research, presentation, and application. However, this specific type of science needs an academic approach to history, as it can reconstruct and recreate a new critical social perspective of materialist history. With proper application, materialism can describe the differences of specialized bourgeois science and academic philosophy Baudrillard's perspective on Marxism Baudrillard's perspective on Marxism reveals his initial agreement with communism and its use of Marxism in order to properly combat the capitalistic systems in place within the government and economy. With Marxism, economic production can increase substantially to where a majority of social organizations in society can unite to oppose many capitalistic policies and values. He prioritizes Marxism within politics in order to justify a Marxist's definition of capital property and ideals for its benefit of producing objects Radical Black discourse Radical Black discourse, as Kellner reveals, shows the Black experience and oppression within the United States of America. Through various art forms, such as rap music and storytelling, Black African Americans used radios and stereo systems to show the “ghetto” life experiences and racism in the United States. This radical usage of music to convey the Black oppression and experience in the United States began the start of black liberties and civil rights movements == Controversies ==

In January 2006, Kellner was caught up in the Bruin Alumni Association's controversial "Dirty Thirty" project, which listed UCLA's most politically extreme professors. The list was compiled by a former UCLA graduate student, Andrew Jones, who had previously been fired by his mentor David Horowitz for pressuring "students to file false reports about leftists" and for stealing Horowitz's mailing list of potential contributors to fund research for attacks on left-wing professors. The Association offered students up to $100 for tapes of lectures that show how "radicals" on the faculty are "actively proselytizing their extreme views in the classroom". Kellner was named number three; Peter McLaren, also in the School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA, topped the list at number one. Kellner responded in print with the view that the "attack exemplified right wing interventions within the cultural wars that have raged on campuses since the 1960s". == Political writing ==

Kellner's writing style has been the subject of criticism in the scholarly field, as many of his books are fiercely political. A Publishers Weekly review of Grand Theft 2000: Media Spectacle and a Stolen Election was positive, though it concluded that the book's result is "somewhat formless and unfocused." Although the review praised some aspects, notably Kellner's highlighting of some conservative ideological inconsistencies, it lamented that Kellner's "sporadic, underdeveloped discussion of Republicans projecting their own sins onto Democrats is particularly frustrating." Kellner received the 2008 American Educational Studies Association (AESA) Critics’ Choice Award for his book Guys and Guns Amok: Domestic Terrorism and School Shootings from the Oklahoma City Bombing to the Virginia Tech Massacre. The book argues that school shootings and other acts of mass violence embody a crisis of out-of-control gun culture and male rage, heightened by a glorification of hyper-masculinity and violence in the media. Kellner has written multiple works on the 2016 Presidential Election, strongly opposing Donald Trump. In his 2016 book American Nightmare Donald Trump, Media Spectacle, and Authoritarian Populism, Kellner applies his focus on media culture and literacy to the election of Donald Trump. Kellner's idea of American neo-fascism describes the manipulative form of deception that many politicians would force upon their supporters for political and social unification. By using many forms of prejudices and biases, politicians, such as Trump and Richard Nixon, can deploy these types of habits in order to create unity and solidarity in a politically divided world. By exploiting international events to manipulate, these politicians can motivate and activate their political party in order to elevate themselves above racial and social minorities. This exploitation of power reveals the larger theme of hidden power and manipulation in American neo-fascism. == Criticism==

Media Culture Many academics disagree with Kellner's perspective on the postmodern phenomenon, which entails the new sense of cultural identity streaming from postmodern nationalism, religion, and family. However, many academic sociologists appreciate Kellner's type of cultural media analysis, where he demands that media culture analysis requires the use of social theory. Through the proper usage and application of social theory, Socialists can better understand the “postmodern phenomena” proposed by Douglas Kellner Guys and Guns Amok Sociologists discuss and debate the effectiveness of Kellner's proposal to culturally profile the mass terrorists under the guise of a “gun-heavy society”. His approach to the distinct social and cultural influences from the multiple shooters distinguishes Kellner's breakdown from the typical psychological approach. However, sociologists appreciate and applaud Kellner's attempt to connect the various connections between culture, society, and psychology in order to provide a full understanding of a sociological inquiry From 9/11 to Terror War Sociologists often describe Kellner's perspective on the causes and motivations of terrorism from 9/11 as originating from capitalist globalization from the U.S. influence. Kellner shows the potential solutions toward the post 9/11 war on terror, and these solutions often include the power of unified dialogue, cooperation, and commitment to global effort. Sociologists applaud Kellner for his initial attempts to decipher the actual means to propose a global solution toward terror, and his approach reveals a possibility for a peaceful resolution for post 9/11 terrorism. == Awards ==

Kellner was named a fellow of the Sudikoff Family Institute for New Education and Media from 2003 to 2004. == Selected works ==

Books authored • Herbert Marcuse and the Crisis of Marxism. London: Macmillan, 1984. . • Camera Politica: The Politics and Ideology of Contemporary Hollywood Film. Co-authored with Michael Ryan. Indiana University Press, June 1988. . • Jean Baudrillard: From Marxism to Postmodernism and Beyond. Oxford: Polity Press, 1989. . • Critical Theory, Marxism, and Modernity. Parallax Re-visions of Culture and Society. Stephen G. Nichols, Gerald Prince, and Wendy Steiner, series editors. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, September 1989. (Paperback); Polity Press. (Hardcover). • Television And The Crisis Of Democracy (Interventions: Theory and Contemporary Politics). Westview Press, 1990. • Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations. with Steven Best, Guilford Press, November 1991. . • The Persian Gulf TV War. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, September 1992. . • Media Culture: Cultural Studies, Identity and Politics Between the Modern and the Postmodern. London: Routledge, January 1995. . • The Postmodern Turn. with Steven Best. Guilford Press, August 1997. . • The Postmodern Adventure: Science, Technology, and Cultural Studies at the Third Millennium. with Steven Best. Guilford Press, June 2001. . • Grand Theft 2000. Media Spectacle and a Stolen Election. Rowman & Littlefield, August 2001. . • From 9/11 to Terror War: The Dangers of the Bush Legacy. Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. . • Guys and Guns Amok: Domestic Terrorism and school Shootings from the Oklahoma City Bombing to the Virginia Tech Massacre. Boulder, Colorado: Paradigm Publishers, January 2008. . • Cinema Wars: Hollywood Film and Politics in the Bush-Cheney Era. Oxford, England: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. • Media/Cultural Studies: Critical Approaches. with Rhonda Hammer. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, 2009. • American Nightmare Donald Trump, Media Spectacle, and Authoritarian Populism. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 2016. • American Horror Show: Election 2016 and the Ascent of Donald J. Trump. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 2017. Books edited • Baudrillard: A Critical Reader. Oxford; Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1994. . • Critical Theory and Society: A Reader. Edited with Stephen Eric Bronner. New York, NY: Routledge, 1989. . • Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort. Edited with Chip Berlet and Matthew N. Lyons. New York: Guilford Press, 2000. . . . 498 p. • Philosophy, Psychoanalysis and Emancipation, Volume 5 of the Collected Papers of Herbert Marcuse. Edited with Clayton Pierce. New York, NY: Routledge, 2010. . Book contributions • "Frankfurt School, Media, and the Culture Industry."In: Valdivia, A.N. (ed). The International Encyclopedia of Media Studies. Archived from the original. . Essays and articles • "Critical Theory and the Culture Industries: A Reassessment." Telos, Vol. 1984, No. 62, Winter 1984, pp. 196–206. New York: Telos Press. . • "Multiple Literacies and Critical Pedagogy in a Multicultural Society." Educational Theory, Vol. 48, No. 1, 1998. pp. 103–22. • "Dawns,Twilights, and Transitions: Postmodern Theories, Politics, and Challenges." Co-authored by Steven Best. Democracy & Nature: The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy, Vol. 7, No. 1, March 2001. • "Grand Theft 2000: Media Spectacle and a Stolen Election: Review." Publishers Weekly, 29 October 2001. • "Technological Transformation, Multiple Literacies, and the Re-visioning of Education." E-Learning, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2004. pp. 9–37. • "Election 2004: The War for the White House and Media Spectacle." Logos, Vol. 3, No. 4, Fall 2004. Full issue available (PDF). Archivedfrom the original. • "Oppositional Politics and the Internet: A Critical/Reconstructive Approach." Co-authored by Richard Kahn. Cultural Politics, Vol 1. No. 1, 2005. • "Reconstructing Technoliteracy: A Multiple Literacies Approach." Co-authored by Richard Kahn. Defining Technological Literacy: Towards an Epistemological Framework, edited by John Dakers. Palgrave, 2006. • "Resisting Globalization." The Blackwell Companion to Globalization. Edited by George Ritzer. Co-authored with Richard Kahn. Blackwell, 2007. • "Cultural Marxism and Cultural Studies", UCLA, 2004. == References ==