First Advisor
Margesson, Robert
Thesis Committee Member(s)
Gosselin, Abigail
College
Regis College
Degree Name
BA
School
Regis College Senior Honors Program
Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
Number of Pages
134 pages
Abstract
Michael Calvin McGee argues that the ideograph is a commonplace term that normalizes a people to a political myth, and therefore creates an assent to the dominating ideology. Taking this as my inspiration I wish to apply this conception of rhetoric to the term "poverty." Specifically, I have chosen to address the political myth of the War on Poverty in relation to the political understanding and application of the coercive power of the State. Poverty is then a term that justifies the use of the political State, but also creates a paradigm for the viewing of social relations that function within the myth of power. Poverty becomes the battleground for wider discussions of what the American people look to in the identitarian object, and at the same time the role that the State plays in the first place. Drawing upon the work of Cornel West, Alain Badiou, Slavoj Zizek, and other prominent Marxist thinkers, this thesis traces the myth of the State as a viable option for the alleviation of poverty through the past 60 years of American history. Moving from the War on Poverty I trace the continuing narrative into the modem days attempts taken about by the Obama Administration. It is my argument that in order to adequately address the real harms of the violence of poverty we need to break from the myth of poverty as an economic issue, and instead look to the issue as one of the oppression of a communal politic.
Date of Award
Spring 2013
Location (Creation)
Colorado (state); Denver (county); Denver (inhabited place)
Copyright
© Jonathan Denzler
Rights Statement
All content in this Collection is owned by and subject to the exclusive control of Regis University and the authors of the materials. It is available only for research purposes and may not be used in violation of copyright laws or for unlawful purposes. The materials may not be downloaded in whole or in part without permission of the copyright holder or as otherwise authorized in the “fair use” standards of the U.S. copyright laws and regulations.
Recommended Citation
Denzler, Jonathan, "Mcgee, Marx, and the Masking of Social Oppression: an Ideographical Analysis of the Political Myth of the War On Poverty" (2013). Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection). 611.
https://epublications.regis.edu/theses/611