The Politics of Affective Societies An Interdisciplinary Essay (Paperback)

Many claim that political deliberation has become exceedingly affective, and hence, destabilizing. The authors of this book revisit that assumption. While recognizing that significant changes are occurring, these authors also point out the limitations of turning to contemporary democratic theory to understand and unpack these shifts. They propose, instead, to reframe this debate by deploying the analytic framework of affective societies, which highlights how affect and emotion are present in all aspects of the social. What changes over time and place are the modes and calibrations of affective and emotional registers. With this line of thinking, the authors are able to gesture towards a new outline of the political.

Jonas Bens (Dr. phil., Dipl.-Jur.), geb. 1984, forscht und lehrt am Institut für Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie an der Freien Universität Berlin.

Aletta Diefenbach (M.A.) is a sociologist and works as a research fellow at the Collaborative Research Centre »Affective Societies« (DFG-SFB 1171) at Freie Universität Berlin. She works on religion as a public force in the United States and in Germany.

Thomas John (M.A.) is an anthropologist and works as a research fellow at the Collaborative Research Centre »Affective Societies« (DFG-SFB 1171) at Freie Universität Berlin. His research focuses and media ethnography and visual anthropology. In his dissertation project he is concerned with a local art scene of independent documentary filmmakers in Mexico.

Antje Kahl (Dr. phil.) is a sociologist and works as a research fellow at the Collaborative Research Centre »Affective Societies« (DFG-SFB 1171) at Freie Universität Berlin. She is currently heading the method lab at the CRC »Affective Societies« at Freie Universität Berlin. Her research interests include methods and methodologies, sociology of knowledge, science research, medical sociology, sociology of the body, death and dying.

Hauke Lehmann (Dr. phil.) is a film scholar and works as a research fellow at the Collaborative Research Centre »Affective Societies« (DFG-SFB 1171) at Freie Universität Berlin. His doctoral thesis as a film scholar is concerned with the poetics of affect of New Hollywood cinema. His research focuses on theories of cinematic affectivity and cinematic temporality.