Sensible Politics: Visualizing International Relations
Visual images are everywhere in international politics. But how are we to understand them? In Sensible Politics, William A. Callahan uses his expertise in Asian studies, social theory, and filmmaking to explore not only what visuals mean, but also how visuals can viscerally move and connect us in “affective communities of sense.” The book’s rich analysis of visual images (photographs, film, art) and visual artifacts (maps, veils, walls, gardens, cyberspace) shows how critical scholarship needs to push beyond issues of identity and security to appreciate the creative politics of social-ordering and world-ordering. While it is common to use “Western” theory to analyze Asian case studies, the book challenges such Eurocentrism by employing Chinese concepts, practices and experiences to understand international politics more generally, as well as exploring the visual politics of photos, films, maps, fashion, walls, gardens, and cyberspace in China, Japan, Thailand, and Korea. Sensible Politics offers a unique approach to politics that allows us to not only think visually, but also feel visually—and creatively act visually for a multisensory appreciation of politics.
Publisher
Oxford University Press
ISBN
9780190071745
Published
2020
Specialisation
Social Sciences
Theme
International Relations and Politics
Region
Global Asia (Asia and other parts of the World)
South Korea
Japan
China
Southeast Asia
Thailand