The search data reveals a subtle oddity that would likely amuse Theodor Adorno while also supporting one of his more somber observations about mass culture. More people are searching for “Theory Trading Cards” on Google than the theorists themselves. Not all of them, of course—Foucault can hold his own—but enough to give you pause. Enough to imply that the contents have been superseded by the wrapper in some significant way.
In the early 2000s, when the internet was still developing, the cards themselves began as an online project on David Gauntlett’s website, theory.org.uk. Gauntlett, a media and communications professor at the University of Westminster, created a series of digital trading cards that are portable, visual, and scannable and are loosely inspired by their sports counterparts. Each card contained a picture, a brief biography, a list of important books, and the kind of condensed concepts that would require a semester to fully understand. There were twelve cards in the online version. The concept had obviously struck a chord by 2004, when AltaMira Press released a physical edition through a proper set of 21.
It’s difficult to ignore the format’s subtle genius. In roughly ninety seconds, someone who has never read “Discipline and Punish” can pick up Foucault’s card, grasp the central tension of his ideas—power, surveillance, and the creation of knowledge—and leave feeling sufficiently informed. Depending on who you ask, that may be a strength or a weakness. It’s a lifeline to ask a graduate student at 11 p.m. prior to a seminar. A literary scholar may have a different response if you ask them mid-tenure.
The intriguing thing is that the search behavior itself provides insight into how people currently interact with concepts. Critical theory was effectively gamified by the trading card format, which gave it the same approachable energy as gathering baseball statistics. Are you curious about Adorno’s astrological sign? The card has it. Do you want a list of Bell Hooks’ most significant works in an easy-to-access format? There. The cards repackaged the theories for a world that moves more quickly than a monograph can keep up, rather than simplifying them.
This particular tension between depth and accessibility, between rigorous engagement and popular reach, seems to have always plagued academia. Though they didn’t end the conflict, Theory Trading Cards skillfully avoided it and ended up in an area where educators, students, and interested outsiders could all find something helpful. The search numbers appear the way they do, most likely because of that range of readers. Instead of serving a single audience flawlessly, the cards serve everyone to some extent.
The physical format might be more useful than it first appears. The idea of a card that you can hold, turn over, or place on a table next to someone else’s card has an almost tactile quality. Gauntlett was well aware that people’s perceptions of information are altered by portability. The printed cards were something you could bring into a lecture, highlight in your memory, and debate over; the online version was more popular. A card feels almost subversive in its generosity in a time when the majority of academic resources are hidden behind paywalls or contained within dense PDFs.
It’s genuinely unclear if this makes the theorists more or less well-known. Everyone involved is probably aware that reading Foucault is not the same as simply recognizing his name from a trading card. However, the introduction may be the first step. Alternatively, it could be the point at which the engagement ends, with the card—rather than the book—becoming the enduring impression. In either case, the search data continues to increase. You can bet Adorno would find that extremely ironic somewhere.⁖※
