Contemporary political movements emerge from speculation rather than rational calculation

Evidence

Rather than arising from rational calculations, today’s vexed political conflicts emerge out of an impatience with the promises of contemporary capitalism. Grounded on speculations of other futures, movements from Left to Right break the mold of historically “rational” forms of politics (such as the politics of parties and bureaucracies) and rely heavily on the promises of speculation as a way of creating communities and building support. This is not the Habermassian public sphere of consensus politics, nor is it a barren space of irrationality and delusion. Against these commonplace views, I have sought to dispel flippant dismissals of crowds and publics as dupes of neoliberalism’s ideological capture. I have suggested that this incipient political domain is in fact grounded in institutions like finance—­despite our intuitive understanding of those institutions as antagonistic to grassroots political movements. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 553

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to my prior reading on trust and cooperation — claims that post-rational speculation, not deliberative consensus, grounds today’s politics echoes the trust literature’s critique of rational-choice framings. — connects to: Counter-speculation in politics is not a new phenomenon — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 534; Digital speculation platforms amplify populist mobilization beyond traditional social movements — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living with…, 698; Speculation now pervades economic, social, and political life as an imagined collective enactment — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 85 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Speculative politics creates the terrain on which counter-speculative activism operates. #expands (0.90) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 306
• Speculation now pervades economic, social, and political life as an imagined collective enactment #expands (0.88) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 85
• Digital speculation platforms amplify populist mobilization beyond traditional social movements #exemplifies (0.85) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 698
• Speculation’s rationality-irrationality tension now defines dominant political conflicts #expands (0.80) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 66
• Current crises express immanent speculative politics rather than an interregnum awaiting new birth #expands (0.78) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 363
• Counter-speculation in politics is not a new phenomenon #corroborates (0.72) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 534
• Progressive movements redressing uncertainty’s unequal distribution share speculation’s means but not its ends #qualifies (0.72) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 308