Rituals of World Politics: On (Visual) Practices Disordering Things
(2020) In Critical Studies on Security 8(3). p.240-264- Abstract
- Rituals are customarily muted into predictable routines aimed to stabilise social orders and limit conflict. As a result, their magic lure recedes into the background, and the unexpected and disruptive elements are downplayed. Our collaborative contribution counters this move by foregrounding rituals of world politics as social practices with notable disordering effects. We engage a series of ‘world pictures’ to show the worlding and disruptive work enacted in rituals designed to sustain the sovereign exercise of violence and war, here colonial treatymaking, state commemoration, military/service dog training, cyber-security podcasts, algorithmically generated maps, the visit of Prince Harry to a joint NATO exercise and border ceremonies in... (More)
- Rituals are customarily muted into predictable routines aimed to stabilise social orders and limit conflict. As a result, their magic lure recedes into the background, and the unexpected and disruptive elements are downplayed. Our collaborative contribution counters this move by foregrounding rituals of world politics as social practices with notable disordering effects. We engage a series of ‘world pictures’ to show the worlding and disruptive work enacted in rituals designed to sustain the sovereign exercise of violence and war, here colonial treatymaking, state commemoration, military/service dog training, cyber-security podcasts, algorithmically generated maps, the visit of Prince Harry to a joint NATO exercise and border ceremonies in India, respectively. We do so highlighting rituals’ immanent potential for disruption of existing orders, the fissures, failures and unforeseen repercussions. Reappraising the disordering role of ritual practices sheds light on the place of rituals in rearticulating the boundaries of the political. Rituals can generate dissensus and re-divisions of the sensible rather than only impose a consensus by policing the boundaries of the political, as Rancière might phrase it. Our images are essential to the account. They help disinterring the fundamentals and ambiguities of the current worldings of security, capturing the affective atmosphere of rituals. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/bfaa7607-6400-4181-8e22-d5dfb24b411b
- author
- Aalberts, Tanja ; Kurowska, Xymena ; Leander, Anna ; Mälksoo, Maria ; Heath-Kelly, Charlotte ; Lobato, Luisa and Svensson, Ted LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- ritual, disruption, images, Violence, war, security
- in
- Critical Studies on Security
- volume
- 8
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 240 - 264
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85093942883
- ISSN
- 2162-4909
- DOI
- 10.1080/21624887.2020.1792734
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- bfaa7607-6400-4181-8e22-d5dfb24b411b
- date added to LUP
- 2020-08-10 10:18:07
- date last changed
- 2024-02-02 14:59:03
@article{bfaa7607-6400-4181-8e22-d5dfb24b411b,
abstract = {{Rituals are customarily muted into predictable routines aimed to stabilise social orders and limit conflict. As a result, their magic lure recedes into the background, and the unexpected and disruptive elements are downplayed. Our collaborative contribution counters this move by foregrounding rituals of world politics as social practices with notable disordering effects. We engage a series of ‘world pictures’ to show the worlding and disruptive work enacted in rituals designed to sustain the sovereign exercise of violence and war, here colonial treatymaking, state commemoration, military/service dog training, cyber-security podcasts, algorithmically generated maps, the visit of Prince Harry to a joint NATO exercise and border ceremonies in India, respectively. We do so highlighting rituals’ immanent potential for disruption of existing orders, the fissures, failures and unforeseen repercussions. Reappraising the disordering role of ritual practices sheds light on the place of rituals in rearticulating the boundaries of the political. Rituals can generate dissensus and re-divisions of the sensible rather than only impose a consensus by policing the boundaries of the political, as Rancière might phrase it. Our images are essential to the account. They help disinterring the fundamentals and ambiguities of the current worldings of security, capturing the affective atmosphere of rituals.}},
author = {{Aalberts, Tanja and Kurowska, Xymena and Leander, Anna and Mälksoo, Maria and Heath-Kelly, Charlotte and Lobato, Luisa and Svensson, Ted}},
issn = {{2162-4909}},
keywords = {{ritual; disruption; images; Violence; war; security}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{240--264}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Critical Studies on Security}},
title = {{Rituals of World Politics: On (Visual) Practices Disordering Things}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21624887.2020.1792734}},
doi = {{10.1080/21624887.2020.1792734}},
volume = {{8}},
year = {{2020}},
}