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Biopolitical Economies and the Political Aesthetics of Climate Change

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Biopolitical Economies and the Political Aesthetics of Climate Change. / Yusoff, Kathryn.
In: Theory, Culture and Society, Vol. 27, No. 2-3, 03.2010, p. 73-99.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Yusoff, K 2010, 'Biopolitical Economies and the Political Aesthetics of Climate Change', Theory, Culture and Society, vol. 27, no. 2-3, pp. 73-99. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276410362090

APA

Yusoff, K. (2010). Biopolitical Economies and the Political Aesthetics of Climate Change. Theory, Culture and Society, 27(2-3), 73-99. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276410362090

Vancouver

Yusoff K. Biopolitical Economies and the Political Aesthetics of Climate Change. Theory, Culture and Society. 2010 Mar;27(2-3):73-99. doi: 10.1177/0263276410362090

Author

Yusoff, Kathryn. / Biopolitical Economies and the Political Aesthetics of Climate Change. In: Theory, Culture and Society. 2010 ; Vol. 27, No. 2-3. pp. 73-99.

Bibtex

@article{7eea858b337a47df8eedae135db8041b,
title = "Biopolitical Economies and the Political Aesthetics of Climate Change",
abstract = "As environments and their inhabitants undergo a multitude of abrupt changes due to climate, in the aesthetic field there has been a hardening of a few representational figures that stand in for those contested political ecologies. Biodiversity loss and habitat change can be seen to be forcing an acceleration of archival practices that mobilize various images of the ‚{"}play of the world{"}, including the making of star species to represent planetary loss, and the consolidation of other species into archives implicitly organized around the category of their destruction. The first section of this article looks at Jacques Ranciere's concept of political aesthetics in order to extend an argument about the importance of aesthetics in multispecies living beyond a concentration on practices per se and into a more excessive engagement articulated by Georges Bataille. I argue that aesthetics must be considered as part of the practice of politics and a space that configures the realm of what is possible in that politics. This is to suggest aesthetics as a form of ethics or an {"}aesthetics of existence{"}, as Foucault put it. The conclusion considers how a biopolitical aesthetic comes into being through such archival practices, and asks what aesthetic shifts would make the ‚ {"}play of the world{"} more present in its absences.",
keywords = "climate change, biopolitics, Political aesthetics, Ranciere, Bataille, Polar, Haraway, ethics",
author = "Kathryn Yusoff",
year = "2010",
month = mar,
doi = "10.1177/0263276410362090",
language = "English",
volume = "27",
pages = "73--99",
journal = "Theory, Culture and Society",
issn = "1460-3616",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
number = "2-3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Biopolitical Economies and the Political Aesthetics of Climate Change

AU - Yusoff, Kathryn

PY - 2010/3

Y1 - 2010/3

N2 - As environments and their inhabitants undergo a multitude of abrupt changes due to climate, in the aesthetic field there has been a hardening of a few representational figures that stand in for those contested political ecologies. Biodiversity loss and habitat change can be seen to be forcing an acceleration of archival practices that mobilize various images of the ‚"play of the world", including the making of star species to represent planetary loss, and the consolidation of other species into archives implicitly organized around the category of their destruction. The first section of this article looks at Jacques Ranciere's concept of political aesthetics in order to extend an argument about the importance of aesthetics in multispecies living beyond a concentration on practices per se and into a more excessive engagement articulated by Georges Bataille. I argue that aesthetics must be considered as part of the practice of politics and a space that configures the realm of what is possible in that politics. This is to suggest aesthetics as a form of ethics or an "aesthetics of existence", as Foucault put it. The conclusion considers how a biopolitical aesthetic comes into being through such archival practices, and asks what aesthetic shifts would make the ‚ "play of the world" more present in its absences.

AB - As environments and their inhabitants undergo a multitude of abrupt changes due to climate, in the aesthetic field there has been a hardening of a few representational figures that stand in for those contested political ecologies. Biodiversity loss and habitat change can be seen to be forcing an acceleration of archival practices that mobilize various images of the ‚"play of the world", including the making of star species to represent planetary loss, and the consolidation of other species into archives implicitly organized around the category of their destruction. The first section of this article looks at Jacques Ranciere's concept of political aesthetics in order to extend an argument about the importance of aesthetics in multispecies living beyond a concentration on practices per se and into a more excessive engagement articulated by Georges Bataille. I argue that aesthetics must be considered as part of the practice of politics and a space that configures the realm of what is possible in that politics. This is to suggest aesthetics as a form of ethics or an "aesthetics of existence", as Foucault put it. The conclusion considers how a biopolitical aesthetic comes into being through such archival practices, and asks what aesthetic shifts would make the ‚ "play of the world" more present in its absences.

KW - climate change

KW - biopolitics

KW - Political aesthetics

KW - Ranciere

KW - Bataille

KW - Polar

KW - Haraway

KW - ethics

U2 - 10.1177/0263276410362090

DO - 10.1177/0263276410362090

M3 - Journal article

VL - 27

SP - 73

EP - 99

JO - Theory, Culture and Society

JF - Theory, Culture and Society

SN - 1460-3616

IS - 2-3

ER -