As part of the Now is the Time of Monsters. What Comes After Nations? I will be giving a talk.
Central to the practice of neo-liberal power is the notion of the protocol, that is, the rules of engagement of independent actors who are not per se bound to a hierarchical relationship of command and obedience. The rules of these protocols, however, are binding in as much as their acceptance is a precondition for entering into the space of agency. Over the last 30 years, neo-liberal elites have created dense sets of protocols, power structures where rules are enforced but never justified. Today, under the perception of a general crisis, and in opposition to an experience of ubiquitous, unaccountable power, a new desire for embodied power has emerged. A progressive answer to this crisis – as media scientist Felix Stalder suggests – could be to change the character of the rules themselves rather than returning to the idea of the nation-state and hierarchy.
This will take place inside the stream: "State Technologies. A Portrait of Contemporary Power" Saturday, Mar 25, 5- 8:30 PM, at Haus der Kulturen der Welt.
