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In recent years, political and social theory has been transformed by the heterogeneous approaches to feeling and emotion jointly referred to as ‘affect theory’. These range from psychological and social-constructivist approaches to emotion to feminist and post-human perspectives. Covering a wide spectrum of topics and ethnographic contexts—from engineering in the Andes to household rituals in rural China, from South African land restitution to migrant living in Moscow, and from elections in El Salvador to online and offline surveillance among political refugees from Uzbekistan and Eritrea—the chapters in this volume interrogate this ‘affective turn’ through the lens of fine-grained ethnographies of the state. The volume enhances the anthropological understanding of the various ways through which the state comes to be experienced as a visceral presence in social life.
“Overall, Affective States is well written, fascinating, and importantly highlights the complex ways in which affect, emotion, and feeling are inherent within, critical to, and constitutive of states. Each chapter engages both with different theorizations of how these affective states are transmitted and circulate, and with the broader framework outlined by the editors.” • JRAI (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute)
“A brilliant contribution that brings political anthropology into ethnographic and conceptual conversation with affect theory. Each of the book chapters provides a unique ethnographic angle on ‘affective states,’ with a fantastic, field-defining introduction.” • Yael Navaro, University of Cambridge
“A pioneering volume on contemporary political life that offers an exciting new approach to theorizing the state through the lens of affect, one that focuses our attention on the powerful structures of sentiment that mediate relations between citizens and government. A must read for those who want to understand the affective intensities of politics in these very uncertain times.” • Christina Schwenkel, University of California, Riverside
Introduction: Affective States: Entanglements, Suspensions, Suspicions
Mateusz Laszczkowski and Madeleine Reeves
Chapter 1. Negotiating Uncertainty: Neo-liberal Statecraft in Contemporary Peru
Annabel Pinker and Penny Harvey
Chapter 2. The Fines and the Spies: Fears of State Surveillance in Eritrea and in the Diaspora
David Bozzini
Chapter 3. “Recognize the Spies”: Transparency and Political Power in Uzbek Cyberspace
Sarah Kendzior
Chapter 4. Moral Subjectivity and Affective Deficit in the Transitional State: On Claiming Land in South Africa
Christiaan Beyers
Chapter 5. ‘Father Mao’ and the Country-Family: Mixed Feelings for Fathers, Officials, and Leaders in China
Hans Steinmüller
Chapter 6. The Turn of the Offended: Clientelism in the Wake of El Salvador’s 2009 Elections
Ainhoa Montoya
Chapter 7. Living from the Nerves: Deportability, Indeterminacy, and the ‘Feel of Law’ in Migrant Moscow
Madeleine Reeves
Afterword: Political Timequakes
Mateusz Laszczkowski and Madeleine Reeves