Imperial dispositions may be the template for modern political self-deception

Evidence

If the modern produces self-deception as one of its political requirements, and colonialism is the “underside of the modern,” then are imperial dispositions the template for modern politics? — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1412

Categorization

• QUESTION: This is posed as an open question in the text — worth chasing whether any scholar has answered it empirically.
• SEED: An essay could argue that imperial bureaucratic self-deception (knowing and not knowing) is the prototype for corporate and governmental doublespeak today.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1412
• XREF: connects to: Empire produces and maintains strategic ignorance as a ruling technology; Self-deception is the supreme danger in the realm of political secrecy — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 863; Imperial power produces ignorance through acts of refusal to notice (+12 more)

Broader Connections

• Imperial dispositions are trained habits of attention channeled by rules of relevance #expands (0.75)
• Power cannot self-realize but depends on societal-structural conditions for legitimacy #expands (0.75)
• Sincerity can be an active ingredient of self-deception rather than its opposite #corroborates (0.65) — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1405
• Imperial governance rests on a vital lie about empire’s noble projects #responds-to (0.60) — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1419
• Gandhi’s childlike temperament enabled self-deception about varna #exemplifies (0.60)
• US post-war hegemony repurposed Orientalism and modernization theory to justify empire. #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 28
• Self-deception is the supreme danger in the realm of political secrecy #expands (0.55) — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 863
• Empire creates its own reality rather than responding to discernible facts. #corroborates (0.55)
• Imperial power produces ignorance through acts of refusal to notice #complicates (0.50)
• Fear of an internal enemy is manufactured to secure consent for empire #qualifies (0.40) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 491