Speculative communities embrace uncertainty through strategic unknowing rather than anticipation or control

Evidence

A key argument I have put forward so far is that speculative communities no longer live (and perceive) their clouded reality through modes of “anticipation” or “control” alone but by endorsing its uncertainty as an inherent feature of today’s spectacle societies—what we could call a notion of “real fake.” The real fake is where the politics of progressive counter-speculation germinates—directing the speculative imagination toward modes of strategic unknowing that are just as alert to the falsities of liberal democracy and neopopulism as they are open to our own vulnerabilities and those of others. Such strategic ignorance, then, can articulate a more radical framing of equality in speculative communities. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 329

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the book’s core ‘real fake’ concept and anchors the reader’s ‘homo speculans’ task.
• XREF: Connects to McGoey’s sociology of ignorance discussed earlier in the chapter and to the reader’s stated interest in whether counter-speculation reclaims imagination for the left. — connects to: The future is neither wholly invisible nor foreseeable but surprises by precipitation — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 1239; Big Brother-era uncertainty is inverted into certainty that breeds complacent nonchalance — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 323; Political actors weaponize volatility by mobilizing uncertainty-affirming communities — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living with…, 371