In this essay, I will define cultural institutionalization and articulate the ways in which the phenomenon modulates subversive countercultural movements and integrates them into Western, capitalist cultural structures. I will then illustrate my theory of cultural institutionalization by analyzing three historical case studies of subversive countercultural movements in the United States. The first of which will be the drag queen phenomenon, which provides the most convincing case for the theory in the artistic sphere. Secondly, I will address a more explicitly political movement, the black liberation movement and its various permutations: the civil rights movement, the black power movement and the Black Panther Party, and the recent Black Lives Matter movement. Finally, I will assess the applicability of this theory to the hippie counterculture, a favored movement of critical theorist Herbert Marcuse. I aim to analyze each of these movements in a dialectical manner, in such a way that respects the rich history of each movement and gives due consideration to the system in which they developed.
","abstract_html":"<p>In this essay, I will define cultural institutionalization and articulate the ways in which the phenomenon modulates subversive countercultural movements and integrates them into Western, capitalist cultural structures. I will then illustrate my theory of cultural institutionalization by analyzing three historical case studies of subversive countercultural movements in the United States. The first of which will be the drag queen phenomenon, which provides the most convincing case for the theory in the artistic sphere. Secondly, I will address a more explicitly political movement, the black liberation movement and its various permutations: the civil rights movement, the black power movement and the Black Panther Party, and the recent Black Lives Matter movement. Finally, I will assess the applicability of this theory to the hippie counterculture, a favored movement of critical theorist Herbert Marcuse. I aim to analyze each of these movements in a dialectical manner, in such a way that respects the rich history of each movement and gives due consideration to the system in which they developed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Edwards, Nicholas Kade"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Master","degree_discipline":"Political Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Jack Jacobs"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-09-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-09-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:58:49Z","subjects":["Political Theory","Social Justice","Marxism","drag","RuPaul","hippies","United States","Black Panther Party","Civil Rights Movement","critical theory","communism"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5133","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Jack Jacobs"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Edwards, Nicholas Kade"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-09-30T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Political Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Political Theory","Social Justice","Marxism","drag","RuPaul","hippies","United States","Black Panther Party","Civil Rights Movement","critical theory","communism"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5133"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In this essay, I will define cultural institutionalization and articulate the ways in which the phenomenon modulates subversive countercultural movements and integrates them into Western, capitalist cultural structures. I will then illustrate my theory of cultural institutionalization by analyzing three historical case studies of subversive countercultural movements in the United States. The first of which will be the drag queen phenomenon, which provides the most convincing case for the theory in the artistic sphere. Secondly, I will address a more explicitly political movement, the black liberation movement and its various permutations: the civil rights movement, the black power movement and the Black Panther Party, and the recent Black Lives Matter movement. Finally, I will assess the applicability of this theory to the hippie counterculture, a favored movement of critical theorist Herbert Marcuse. I aim to analyze each of these movements in a dialectical manner, in such a way that respects the rich history of each movement and gives due consideration to the system in which they developed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Drag, Drugs, and Demonstrations: Cultural Subversion under Capitalism"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Jack Jacobs"],"dc:creator":["Edwards, Nicholas Kade"],"dc:date.available":["2024-09-30T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["In this essay, I will define cultural institutionalization and articulate the ways in which the phenomenon modulates subversive countercultural movements and integrates them into Western, capitalist cultural structures. I will then illustrate my theory of cultural institutionalization by analyzing three historical case studies of subversive countercultural movements in the United States. The first of which will be the drag queen phenomenon, which provides the most convincing case for the theory in the artistic sphere. Secondly, I will address a more explicitly political movement, the black liberation movement and its various permutations: the civil rights movement, the black power movement and the Black Panther Party, and the recent Black Lives Matter movement. Finally, I will assess the applicability of this theory to the hippie counterculture, a favored movement of critical theorist Herbert Marcuse. I aim to analyze each of these movements in a dialectical manner, in such a way that respects the rich history of each movement and gives due consideration to the system in which they developed.
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