Event overview
Visual images are everywhere in international politics. But how are we to understand them?
In Sensible Politics: Visualizing International Relations (Oxford University Press, 2020), Prof William A Callahan (LSE) uses his expertise in 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 artefacts (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.
It challenges our Eurocentric understanding of international politics by exploring the meaning and impact of visuals from Asia and the Middle East. 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.
The author Prof William A Callahan is Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His other books include China Dreams: 20 Visions of the Future (OUP, 2015); Callahan also makes documentary films: ‘toilet adventures’ (2015) was shortlisted for a major award by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and ‘Great Walls’ (2019) asks why we hate Trump’s wall and love the Great Wall of China.
The book will be discussed by Dr David L Martin, Lecturer in Visual and International Politics at the Department of Politics and International Relations at Goldsmiths.
Dates & times
Date | Time | Add to calendar |
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6 Mar 2020 | 5:30pm - 7:00pm |
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