Technological University Dublin ARROW@TU Dublin Doctoral Applied Arts 2016 ‘Subvert and Survive’: Soft Power and Popular Resistance at the Transcultural Edges of Hegemony Harry Browne Technolgical University Dublin, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/appadoc Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Browne, H. (2016) ‘Subvert and Survive’:Soft Power and Popular Resistance at theTranscultural Edges of Hegemony. Doctoral thesis, 2016. doi:10.21427/D7G610 This Theses, Ph.D is brought to you for free and open access by the Applied Arts at ARROW@TU Dublin. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral by an authorized administrator of ARROW@TU Dublin. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License ‘Subvert and Survive’: Soft Power and Popular Resistance at the Transcultural Edges of Hegemony Harry Browne (AB, GradDip Journalism, MA) Dublin Institute of Technology A thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirement for the award of PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) by Prior Publications Dublin Institute of Technology Aungier Street School of Media Supervisors: Dr Alan Grossman, Dr Michael Foley October 2016 DECLARATION I certify that this thesis, which I now submit for examination for the award of PhD (doctor of philosophy) is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. This thesis was prepared according to the regulations for PhD by Prior Publication of the Dublin Institute of Technology and has not been submitted in whole or in part for an award in any other institute or university. The work reported on in this thesis conforms to the principles and requirements of the Institute’s guidelines for ethics in research. The Institute has permission to keep, to lend or to copy this thesis in whole or in part, on condition that any such use of the material be duly acknowledged. Signature ___________________________ Date __________________________ Abstract This thesis, in three parts, documents and conceptualises a range of political and cultural activities that either sustain or challenge existing structures of power. It seeks to answer the question: how can we conjoin a Gramscian theoretical framework and the insights of transculturalism to understand and investigate practices of dominance and resistance operating in close cultural and ideological proximity to those they oppose? Drawing upon an understanding that a successful hegemonic discourse, one that earns consent and minimises conflict, must in some sense contain, and thus control, its own opposite, Part 1 of the thesis – divided into three chapters, constituting an overarching critical discussion – elaborates a theoretical framework that is transcultural, a view of culture deeply embedded in politics and resistant to the limits of national boundaries and essentialisms; that understands hegemony both as an account of bourgeois power and a programme for a praxis of popular resistance; and that seeks to develop a politically useful spatial metaphor, or set of metaphors, for locating a set of events and encounters in the hegemonic borderlands. In Part 2, the thesis examines a series of hegemonic ‘soft power’ institutions and actors that achieve success, it is argued, through their adoption of discourses that speak of social justice and responsibility; in Part 3, it examines a set of resistance practices that work in the popular sphere, close to the institutions that they challenge. The previously published chapters in Parts 2 and 3 each address a distinct topic. In Part 2, where the critique of allegedly neutral and liberal institutions is developed, the subject matter includes the following: foundations offering financial support for journalistic work; Ireland’s main elite newspaper, the Irish Times; the role of media in Ireland’s property and financial crisis; media treatment of anti-war groups; European fisheries policy; racial profiling within the Irish immigration regime; and finally Bono, the celebrity humanitarian. In Part 3, a diverse set of resistance practices from the distant and recent past is documented and analysed: Bruce Springsteen’s work since 2005; an Irish-Chartist newspaper published in Leeds in the 1840s; theatrical and cinematic interpretations of Jim Gralton, an Irish socialist activist of the 1930s; direct action against US military aircraft at Shannon Airport; solidarity actions with the Welsh mother and family of Wikileaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning; a visit to Gaza with a group of Irish activists; and efforts to tell migrant stories in Ireland in the sphere of popular publishing and media. The thesis proposes that the Deluezian concept of ‘the line of flight’ and transculturalism’s emphasis on contact zones are analytical tools for developing a renewed understanding of Gramscian hegemony. ‘War of position’, it is argued, is not static but is, rather, a contest over the orientation and delineation of variable and transversal boundaries. The thesis thus offers itself as a purposefully diverse, transdisciplinary body of research practice that exemplifies how such borderlands can be critically explored. i Acknowledgments My thanks go first and foremost to my supervisor Alan Grossman, whose collegiality and support over many years helped to make this work possible, and whose input on its assembly and presentation has been invaluable. In addition, his co-supervisor Michael Foley merits special mention for his friendship and inspiration, as an achiever of the PhD by Prior Publications, as well as for countless acts of guidance, intended and serendipitous. Two chapters in this thesis are co-authored and thanks go, of course, to all those named, but most especially to Colin Coulter and Gavan Titley, comrades more than co-anythings. They have been the most unassuming but nonetheless helpful of intellectual and political guides for many years, and their influence looms over far more of this work than the few pages that carry their names. Andy Storey’s friendship and guidance date back more than 30 years. Conversations with him are hidden everywhere in this thesis, and the structuring logic of its sequencing originated over yet another revelatory pint with him. At Dublin Institute of Technology, I owe a debt of gratitude to a series of academic managers/friends who did their best, even in straitened circumstances, to facilitate my research. They include most especially Kate Shanahan and Nora French, as well as Barbara O’Shea, Eddie Brennan and Hugh McAtamney. Brian O’Neill, now DIT’s director of research, has also been a great support in that and other roles he has played over the 14 years I have worked with him. My daughters Louisa, Cara and Stella are constant sources of excitement, each brilliant in her own way, each drawing me to a new set of interests and knowledge. Being up close to Cara’s college education since 2014 has provided the final neural jolt to help me comprehend and complete this work. Words really cannot express what it means to share a life with Catherine Ann Cullen – or at least my own words cannot: finding myself in her wonderful poetry is among my greatest prides and pleasures. We have ridden the research rollercoaster side by side for many years now, and by sheer but encouraging coincidence we find ourselves gliding to the end of the doctoral ride together. ii Thesis Presentation Chapter 5 of the Graduate Research Regulations of Dublin Institute of Technology (7th Edition), dealing with the PhD by Prior Publications, is not restrictive in relation to the form in which such prior publications are presented. However, in keeping with guidelines in chapter 4 of the same regulations, and in line with the advice offered by those who have completed this form of PhD recently, I have chosen to present all the material uniformly, formatting what the regulations call the ‘overarching critical document’ in Part 1 in the same way as the previously published material in Parts 2 and 3; the latter pieces, imported and standardised from final pre-print versions or scanned and converted from print, are designated as chapters in the thesis. This marks a minor technical deviation from the nearest precedent for my work, set by my journalistic and academic colleague Michael Foley (2013), who presented his publications in the form of PDFs downloaded from DIT’s own online repository or other sources. In converting the work to a uniform format for all three parts of the thesis, I have of course made no changes in the texts of previously published material – except for the following: in chapter 2.7, the renumbering of endnotes in the excerpted material from my second book, to avoid confusion; in chapters 3.1 and 3.3, removal of HTML mark-up from online publications; and in chapter 3.7 the removal of references to a tracks on a DVD that accompanied the original publication. This ‘conversion’ approach to the publications simply aims to facilitate the reader not only with a more consistent reading experience, but also more navigable pagination, by allowing me to present the thesis with a clear table of contents. It would not, however, have been appropriate to alter the referencing styles of each of the prior publications, so while the new Part 1 has a consistent style for in-text citations and its own bibliography, the chapters that follow reflect the varying approaches to citation of their different publishers. iii Chronlogical List of Publications PR indicates a peer-reviewed journal or volume Browne, H. (2005) ‘Document Study: The Northern Star, English Chartism and Irish politics, 1845-48’, Saothar (Journal of the Irish Labour History Society) 29: 67-76. PR Browne, H. (2005-14) Series of articles on the works of Bruce Springsteen published on CounterPunch.org (April 23 2005, April 22 2006 (with C.A.