The Politics of Imagination
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Imagination-00-p.qxd 10/2/11 10:07 Page i 1 2 The Politics of Imagination 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 11 12 13 The Politics of Imagination offers a multidisciplinary perspective on the con- 14 temporary relationship between politics and the imagination. What role does 15 our capacity to form images play in politics? And can we define politics as a 16 struggle for people’s imagination? As a result of the increasingly central place 17 of the media in our lives, the political role of imagination has undergone a 18 massive quantitative and a qualitative change. As such, there has been a revival 19 of interest in the concept of imagination, as the intimate connections between 20 our capacity to form images and politics becomes more and more evident. 21 Bringing together scholars from different disciplines and theoretical outlooks, 22 The Politics of Imagination examines how the power of imagination reverberates 23 in the various ambits of social and political life: in law, history, art, gender, 24 economy, religion and the natural sciences. It will be of considerable interest 25 to those with contemporary interests in philosophy, political philosophy, 26 political science, legal theory, gender studies, sociology, nationalism, identity 27 studies, cultural studies and media studies. 28 29 Chiara Bottici is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Department of 30 Philosophy of the New School for Social Research, New York. 31 32 Benoît Challand is visiting Associate Professor at the Department of Politics 33 of the New School for Social Research and Lecturer at the University of 34 Bologna. 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 T&F 1ST PROOFS - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION Imagination-00-p.qxd 10/2/11 10:07 Page ii 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 T&F 1ST PROOFS - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION Imagination-00-p.qxd 10/2/11 10:07 Page iii 1 2 The Politics of Imagination 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Edited by 19 20 Chiara Bottici 21 and Benoît Challand 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 T&F 1ST PROOFS - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION Imagination-00-p.qxd 10/2/11 10:07 Page iv 1 2 First published 2011 3 by Birkbeck Law Press 4 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 5 Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Birkbeck Law Press 6 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 7 Birkbeck Law Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business 8 © 2011 editorial matter and selection: Chiara Bottici and Benoît 9 Challand; individual chapters © the contributors. 0 The right of Chiara Bottici and Benoît to be identified as editors of this 11 work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the 12 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. 13 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced 14 or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, 15 or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in 16 writing from the publishers. 17 Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or 18 registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and 19 explanation without intent to infringe. 20 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library 21 Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data 22 The politics of imagination / edited by Chiara Bottici and Benoît Challand. 23 p. cm. 24 Includes bibliographical references and index. Includes bibliographical references and index. 25 1. Imagination—Political aspects. 2. Imagery (Psychology)—Political 26 aspects. 3. Visualization—Political aspects. 4. Political science— 27 Philosophy. I. Bottici, Chiara. II. Challand, Benoît, 1972– JA71.P6428 2011 28 320.01—dc22 2010047899 29 30 ISBN: 978–0–415–60154–2 (hbk) 31 ISBN: 978–0–203–81609–7 (ebk) 32 Typeset in Garamond 33 by Keystroke, Station Road, Codsall, Wolverhampton 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 T&F 1ST PROOFS - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION Imagination-00-p.qxd 10/2/11 10:07 Page v 1 2 Contents 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 11 12 13 Acknowledgements 000 14 Notes on contributors 000 15 16 17 Introduction 000 18 CHIARA BOTTICI AND BENOÎT CHALLAND 19 20 1. From imagination to the imaginary and beyond: towards a 21 theory of imaginal politics 000 22 CHIARA BOTTICI 23 24 2. Politics at its best: reasons that move the imagination 000 25 26 ALESSANDRO FERRARA 27 28 3. The politics of imagination: Spinoza and the origins of critical 29 theory 000 30 THOMAS HIPPLER 31 32 4. From soul to mind: psychology and political imagination 000 33 ADRIANO BUGLIANI 34 35 5. Imagination, imaginary and the bioeconomic turn of cognitive 36 capitalism 000 37 LAURA BAZZICALUPO 38 39 40 6. Imagining the west, perceiving race: social sciences and 41 political imagination 000 42 ALANA LENTIN 43 44 T&F 1ST PROOFS - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION Imagination-00-p.qxd 10/2/11 10:07 Page vi vi Contents 1 7. Politics and the Messianic imagination 000 2 ARMANDO SALVATORE 3 4 8. Religion and the struggle for people’s imagination: the case 5 of contemporary Islamism 000 6 BENOÎT CHALLAND 7 8 9 9. Modern politics and the historical imaginary 000 0 HAYDEN WHITE 11 12 10. Literature as public reasoning in the political struggles over 13 imagination 000 14 MEILI STEELE 15 16 11. Feminist imagination: the aesthetic role of critique and 17 representation 000 18 MARÍA PÍA LARA 19 20 12. Visual studies and global imagination 000 21 22 SUSAN BUCK-MORSS 23 24 Index 000 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 T&F 1ST PROOFS - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION Imagination-00-p.qxd 10/2/11 10:07 Page vii 1 2 Acknowledgements 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 11 12 13 This book has a long story. The idea of a collective work on the politics of 14 imagination owes much to the activities of the ‘Collettivo EUI’, an inter- 15 disciplinary group of European scholars and political activists that was active 16 from 1999 until 2005 at the European University Institute in Florence (Italy). 17 In particular, it was during the discussions that accompanied the preparation 18 of the first European Social Forum in Florence in November 2002 that the 19 project took shape. In the first place, we wish therefore to thank all regular 20 members of the Collettivo EUI, who, through their actions as well as their ideas, 21 contributed to plant the seeds of our struggle for imagination. Although the 22 original idea to consider politics as a struggle for people’s imagination stemmed 23 from a discussion between the two editors, we feel very much indebted to this 24 political experience. With its multinational and variegated composition, the 25 Collettivo EUI proved to be an ideal place in which to challenge established 26 ways of thinking and thus putting imagination to work. 27 The project then developed in the following years. In 2007 it was thanks to 28 the generous support of Bo Stråth that we were able to convene a workshop 29 entitled ‘Politics as Struggle for People’s Imagination’ (25–26 January 2007). 30 It is on that occasion that most of the papers gathered in this book were first 31 presented and discussed. Our deepest thanks go to therefore to Bo Stråth both 32 for his support and his indefatigable constructive feedback throughout the 33 years. We are also grateful to the European University Institute, in particular 34 the History Department, for hosting the event as well to all those who 35 participated to the discussions that animated those two days for their comments 36 on earlier drafts of this book. 37 In the course of the preparation of this book, other people have joined the 38 project, adding their specific competencies to our project so as to give rise to 39 a truly multidisciplinary perspective. We wish to thank them for believing in 40 this project and lending us their invaluable competencies. This has also enabled 41 us to benefit from an intergenerational exchange where the experience gained 42 in different historical moments of reactivation of political imagination (in 43 particular 1968 and the new global movement of the beginning of this millen- 44 nium) have been compared and put in dialogue with one another. T&F 1ST PROOFS - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION Imagination-00-p.qxd 10/2/11 10:07 Page viii viii Acknowledgements 1 We want to thank the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments. 2 Other scholars have shared with us their comments and ideas on politics and 3 imagination, either during personal exchanges or at international conferences 4 such as the annual Prague meeting on philosophy and social sciences, where 5 some of the following chapters were first presented and discussed. We would 6 therefore like to express our gratitude to Amy Allen, Irene Becci, Hakim 7 Boulhares, Rainer Forst, Nathalie Karagiannis, Angela Kuehner, Christian 8 Marazzi, Elena Pulcini, Jean Terrier, Camil Ungureanu and Peter Wagner for 9 their comments and feedback.