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Aesthetics and World Politics pp 18–47Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The Aesthetic Turn in International Political Theory

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Part of the book series: Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies ((RCS))

Abstract

We have all grown accustomed to familiar representations of the international and its conflicts. Wars, famines and diplomatic summits are shown to us in their usual guise: as short-lived media events that blend information and entertainment. The numbing regularity with which these images and sound-bites are communicated to great masses soon erases their highly arbitrary nature. We gradually forget that we have become so accustomed to these politically charged and distorting metaphors that we accept them as real.

The fact that through the work of art a truth is experienced that we cannot attain in any other way constitutes the philosophic importance of art, which asserts itself against all attempts to rationalise it away.

Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method1

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Notes

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  1. University of Queensland, Australia

    Roland Bleiker (Professor of International Relations)

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Bleiker, R. (2009). The Aesthetic Turn in International Political Theory. In: Aesthetics and World Politics. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230244375_2

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