| ID | 152108 |
| Title Proper | Recognising, and realising, the promise of the aesthetic turn |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Steele, Brent J |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Roland Bleiker’s iconic and courageous mapping of the aesthetic turn in international political theory called attention to one very basic but up until then unstated maxim: that the ‘inevitable difference between the represented and its representation is the very location of politics’.1 Exactly. Thanks to this insight, the aesthetic turn revealed a kind of vulnerability of states – and of great powers in particular – that had not previously been seen. This ‘aesthetic vulnerability’ brought to light states’ concern with their own representation and self-representation, with the way they ‘look’ in their own eyes and in the eyes of others. This soft underbelly of power politics acquired particular urgency after 9/11, as the hyper-visuality of the event – and its violent aftermath – so evidently pointed at that ‘representational gap’. The ‘aesthetic vulnerability’ of the United States called attention to its representational practices and, simultaneously, opened political spaces to challenge its policies. However, as the never-ending ‘War on Terror’ mutates into ‘global Trumpism’, the limits of this near-exclusive focus on the United States and the West are becoming more evident, demanding consultation of new perspectives and new terrains for ‘aesthetic’ engagements in, and of, critical IR. |
| `In' analytical Note | Millennium: Journal of International Studies Vol. 45, No.2; Jan 2017: p.206-213 |
| Journal Source | Millennium: Journal of International Studies 2017-03 45, 2 |
| Key Words | Security ; Power ; Micropolitics ; Aesthetics |