Theory

"Theory" is a key buzzword in right-wing discourses on higher education and its discontents, often serving as the link stringing together these discourses' visions of a wide range of intellectual and pedagogical projects (gender theory, critical race theory, etc.). State legislatures around the country have passed or are considering bills that explicitly identify "theory" as that which must be banned from the academy and from public life. It is clear that this work does significant rhetorical work for the right today—but why? What does "theory" signify and why does this signification incite a phobic reaction? I offer a brief history of anti-"theory" discourse in US media and politics since 1970, a diagnosis of this discourse's phobic symptoms and political objectives, and a critical argument in defense of "theory."