Appearances of the political.
This study circle aims at investigating the aesthetic appearance and the
experiences of the political in contemporary democracies. What form does the
political have today? How do we make sense out of it?
By the political we understand political acts and manifestations in all
forms including not only debates and decisions but also institutional and
material organization as well as communication and actions of everyday living.
The political is thus a wider notion than political institutions and
philosophies; it includes how our everyday is embedded in ideologies forming
our thoughts and actions.
The focus on appearance is a focus on forms in which the political
appears, thus a question of
aesthetics and aestheticization. This, again, covers a wide range of
phenomena fromthe direct use of
aesthetic means in the staging and presentation of politicians and
events of political significance to the
organization of our environment. A central phenomenon is the way the
media aestheticizes politics
making the media the heart of the everyday both for what is said and how
it is said.
This topic is covered by a variety of disciplines such as aesthetics,
rhetoric, communication, material culture studies, anthropology, sociology,
gender studies, pedagogy, and philosophy. The aim of the study circle is to
bring these different disciplines into dialogue based on expertise in each
discipline and the importance of including knowledge from other disciplines.
Full presentation - note the aim is identical
to the short presentation so im case the full presentation os placed after the
short presentation it may not make sense to repeat this part.
Aim of the proposal
This study circle aims at investigating the aesthetic appearance and the
experiences of the political in contemporary democracies. What form does the
political have today? How do we make sense out of it?
By the political we understand political acts and manifestations in all
forms including not only debates and decisions but also institutional and
material organization as well as communication and actions of everyday living.
The political is thus a wider notion than political institutions and
philosophies; it includes how our everyday is embedded in ideologies forming
our thoughts and actions.
The focus on appearance is a focus on forms in which the political
appears, thus a question of
aesthetics and aestheticization. This, again, covers a wide range of
phenomena fromthe direct use of
aesthetic means in the staging and presentation of politicians and
events of political significance to the
organization of our environment. A central phenomenon is the way the
media aestheticizes politics
making the media the heart of the everyday both for what is said and how
it is said.
This topic is covered by a variety of disciplines such as aesthetics,
rhetoric, communication, material culture studies, anthropology, sociology,
gender studies, pedagogy, and philosophy. The aim of the study circle is to
bring these different disciplines into dialogue based on expertise in each
discipline and the importance of including knowledge from other disciplines.
The work of the study circle
Themes of the circle, corresponding to the six seminars:
- Conceptual analysis. The intention of the study circle is to
create a platform for future collaborations and applications. This makes it
crucial to establish a conceptual common ground making explicit the
understanding of key concepts and elaborating on different forms of
investigation to create a platform for sharing common interest and exchanging
of knowledge. It is important for the circle to consult more fields including
political theory, philosophy, communication, social sciences and cultural
studies.
- Historical. For a common platform serves also analysis of 20th
century phenomena. The '60s and '70s displayed a wide range of new forms of
appearances of political activities like, for example, personal appearance in
fashion and anti-fashion including specific styles like punk and fetishizing
expressions of military forms of guerrilla soldiers and freedom fighters. Also
the cold war had many forms of political expressions in both Soviet idea of
political form and free market informed ideology.
- Material culture. Public space is planned and organised in
accordance with particular political ideas, not least of free market and
consume. Functionalist architecture has displayed ideas of educating the modern
citizen while also enhancing specific, unintended, ideas of modern life such as
individualism as goes the Situationist critique.
In similar fashion design contributes to forming physical space in
accordance with ideologies and intentions. Design is important for how we view
space: how it is accessible, hierarchies, limitation of certain actions. Design
is also used for changing actions like forming social and environmental
sustainability.
- Activism. Since the1960s the active forms of the political have
been plural from marches and manifestations over interventions and happenings
to more radical forms like occupations and violent forms such as terrorism. In
recent years we have witnessed a revitalisation of mass movements by use of
internet and social media, creation of new movements like Occupy and
Indignados, and new activities like the hacktivism of Anonymous. In relation to
environment we find guerrilla gardening along with local protests against
corporate use of natural resources engaging people across traditional political
groupings. Many forms of activism also face political resistance defining - or
redefining - the political space threatening democratic rights with agendas of
terrorism challenging or reshape the space for political activism.
- Political arts and aesthetics in the Everyday. The power’s have
always had an alliance with art defining and supporting art as official appearance
of the ruling ideology. This is no less the case today, the powers only have
changed from kings to consensual ideologies in the democracies. At the same
time a whole margin of contemporary art is actually activist, having impact
both in politics and the art world. A possible case to look into is the
Ultracontemporary biennale in Copenhagen 2017. This will be studied with
cooperation with political artists. Artistic research and experimental artistic
work will so meet the already cross-scientific work of the circle, and help to
both mirror it and to provide new alternative ways of looking at the subject.
- Communication. Media have in many ways
changed our ways of communication, both concerning content and form. The use of
social media can be seen as an expansion of the public debate becoming easy
accessible to all, though also changing ethical standards of what can be said
as well as changing discourses from arguments into statements. They are also
operating on terms not known, like algorithms, and becoming a battlefield for
political and economic powers deeply embedded in different forms of control.
Nordic relevance
While there are more individuals and institutions in the Nordic/Baltic
area concerned with studies in topics related to aesthetics and cultural
studies there are, to our knowledge, not an established strategy or even
research groups dedicated to studying the appearances of the political in our
culture combining research from a philosophical/conceptual approach with also
analysis of specific cases using skills of social and human sciences. The big
issue is as well to bring in aesthetic inquiry into the world of politics.
Political engagement and communication is rapidly changing these years.
The Nordic countries have a tradition for an inclusive democracy through
institutions such as unions and NGOs as well as citizen’s groups related to
specific topics. To develop analysis of this forms also an important starting
point for discussing different forms of appearances as well as sharing experiences
between Nordic traditions and other European countries.
The theme of the circle makes is obvious that activities are not only of
interest for researchers but also for a wider public with whom the circle
should aim at having more dialogues both for learning from practice and also
for informing practice.
Methodological considerations for the running of the
study circle
Motivation
The political in democracies seems to become both present in an
increasing plurality of forms as well as to disappear or at least to be emptied
of political content.
Modern media seems, as one example, an invitation to a more widespread
and elaborate appearance of the political offering both access to news and
information as well as participation. Social media has rapidly taken a central
position in many political acts, however also contributing to transforming
political discourses into easy and non-committal opinions. Similar the
political communication is becoming a professionalised activity of political
communication and new-speech where the political debate is more a matter of the
form of presentation than ideas and visions. This contributes to influencing
the participation in the political life and to mistrust in politicians and
political institutions. Parallel to this the public space becomes increasingly
appropriated by consume and market as an ideology forming public space thus
public opinion. Such phenomena could be seen as examples of how the political
debate and awareness is becoming suppressed in western societies.
The motivation of the study-circle is found in experiences of how the
political is made present, in how these forms are developing and transformed,
and in what consequences these forms of appearance have.
Plan
Winter 2016, Riga
Conceptual analysis
Summer 2016
Historical
Winter 2017, Saint Petersburg
Material culture
Summer 2017
Activism
Winter 2018, Tallinn
Political art and aesthetics in the Everyday
Summer 2018
Communication
