Accepting a failed promise binds investors into collective mythic futures

Evidence

If all this seems nonsensical, that is because at the heart of this logic lies a paradox. What do speculative agents stand to gain from their wholehearted acceptance of failed promises if not their inclusion in capitalism’s reward system? In what follows, I suggest that while the speculative imagination leaves a set of political promises unfulfilled, it does nonetheless project those broken promises onto a collective realm that is conjured around new political myths and shared narratives of the future. In doing so, speculation pries open possibilities that swell over social and political life. As I will show in part 3, this radically different understanding of speculating subjects and their motivations can lead to both regressive and progressive “collectivizations” of uncertainty—­and to different corresponding types of speculative communities. Speculation absolves uncertainty by breathing new life into social groups that have suffered loss of certainty, security, and stability, thus re-­enchanting collectivities. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 96

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The central thesis pivots on the paradox that endorsing failed promises re-enchants communities, grounding the whole book’s Frame.
• XREF: Connects to reader’s use of risk, uncertainty, and confidence as a historical product. — connects to: Speculation re-enchants social groups by projecting failed promises onto shared visions of the future — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 63; Speculation re-enchants collectivities by projecting broken promises onto shared futures — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living with…, 96; Disconfirmed prophecies get reinterpreted rather than abandoned when believers are invested — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 87 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Speculation re-enchants social groups by projecting failed promises onto shared visions of the future #qualifies (0.95) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 63
• Speculation re-enchants collectivities by projecting broken promises onto shared futures #qualifies (0.95) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 96
• Disconfirmed prophecies get reinterpreted rather than abandoned when believers are invested #expands (0.85) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 87
• Speculative technologies train a present-focused disbelief in capitalism’s future promises #contradicts (0.80) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 36