Intensive mobilities: figurations of the nomad in contemporary theory
Intensive mobilities: figurations of the nomad in contemporary theory
The figure of the nomad, representing the virtues of freedom, mobility, and exploration, is a frequently occurring trope within contemporary continental philosophy and social theory, derived chiefly from the work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. This paper will interrogate the concept of nomadism, firstly in the philosophy of these two foundational thinkers, and then subsequently in the feminist and posthumanist theorizations of Rosi Braidotti. Whilst accepting that Braidotti's challenges to sedentarist, essentialist metaphysical accounts of the transcendental subject are still politically relevant, it will be argued that the deployment of the nomadic figure—and more generally, the positing of an ontology of creative desire, or ‘becoming’—risks not only absolutizing the historical contingencies of the digitized, postindustrial society that it seeks to criticize, but actually reinforcing the unsustainable ideology of perpetual production upon which such a society is premised.
media theory, continental philosophy, mobilities, nomadism, normativity
935-950
Sutherland, Thomas
a9a8e23c-232e-47ca-9be6-abeac690bfb2
1 October 2014
Sutherland, Thomas
a9a8e23c-232e-47ca-9be6-abeac690bfb2
Sutherland, Thomas
(2014)
Intensive mobilities: figurations of the nomad in contemporary theory.
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 32 (5), .
(doi:10.1068/d14027p).
Abstract
The figure of the nomad, representing the virtues of freedom, mobility, and exploration, is a frequently occurring trope within contemporary continental philosophy and social theory, derived chiefly from the work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. This paper will interrogate the concept of nomadism, firstly in the philosophy of these two foundational thinkers, and then subsequently in the feminist and posthumanist theorizations of Rosi Braidotti. Whilst accepting that Braidotti's challenges to sedentarist, essentialist metaphysical accounts of the transcendental subject are still politically relevant, it will be argued that the deployment of the nomadic figure—and more generally, the positing of an ontology of creative desire, or ‘becoming’—risks not only absolutizing the historical contingencies of the digitized, postindustrial society that it seeks to criticize, but actually reinforcing the unsustainable ideology of perpetual production upon which such a society is premised.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 1 January 2014
Published date: 1 October 2014
Keywords:
media theory, continental philosophy, mobilities, nomadism, normativity
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Local EPrints ID: 494867
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/494867
ISSN: 0263-7758
PURE UUID: cfdacb0e-18fa-4895-89e0-0a855f147920
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Date deposited: 18 Oct 2024 16:32
Last modified: 19 Oct 2024 02:13
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Thomas Sutherland
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