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Driving in Almaty: Ironic Perspectives on Domestic Anarchical Society

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Theorizing Central Asian Politics

Part of the book series: International Political Theory ((IPoT))

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Abstract

Frigerio proposes an ironic analysis of the relationships between drivers in Almaty as a tool for reframing political theory starting from Kazakhstan. Focusing on contractarianism, exceptionalism, and resilience, the chapter shows how the interactions between the mecha-citizens of this state of (non)nature seem to be characterized by evolutionary norms generated by dynamic power relationships and local irrationalities. Finally, arguing against the risks of a privatizing authoritarianism generated by the frameworks of an exceptionalist neoliberalism based on resilience and a perfectionist governance based on technologies, Frigerio concludes suggesting a political theory defined by the irony of domestic anarchical society.

Seen from a sufficient distance, the cars in which we travel and which we know we built ourselves will look as though they were, as Heisenberg once put it, “as inescapable part of ourselves as the snail’s shell to its occupant.”

Arendt 1993, p. 279

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Almaty Management University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    Alessandro Frigerio

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  1. Alessandro Frigerio
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

    Rico Isaacs

  2. Almaty Management University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    Alessandro Frigerio

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Frigerio, A. (2019). Driving in Almaty: Ironic Perspectives on Domestic Anarchical Society. In: Isaacs, R., Frigerio, A. (eds) Theorizing Central Asian Politics. International Political Theory. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97355-5_13

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