Theorizing the Visual in Political Studies

The “visual” or “aesthetic” turn in political theory has been influential in a variety of currents of thought and philosophy. From political phenomenology to post- and de-colonial thought, and from deconstruction and poststructuralism to feminist theory or American pragmatism, the questions of visual perception, aesthetic politics, new media and the public space of appearances, or issues of post-truth, visual political discourses, and performative practices and the body have reshaped the theoretical conversation in contemporary political studies. From a philosophically pluralistic perspective, the goal of this panel is to bring together a multiplicity of theoretical and philosophical approaches to this visual or aesthetic turn. The field of visual politics refers to an international and interdisciplinary enterprise motivated by the acknowledgment of the centrality of visuals in our contemporary political and social realities. It concerns both the use of visuals in the narration of politics beyond words (e.g., through photography, documentary cinema, and so on) and the study of visual phenomena as part of political facts, events and representations. Since its gradual development in the late 1990s and its expansion in the following decades, scholarly research dedicated to visual politics includes various disciplinary and analytical approaches – such as political philosophy; film studies; security studies; international relations; political science and sociology; comparative literature; and comparative politics. It also includes a large yet specialized spectrum of fields and research topics – including but not limited to discursive practices; new technologies; electoral campaigns and democratic conflict; representations and forms of warfare; foreign policy; refugee crises; health issues; international organizations; diplomacy; affects and emotions; identity politics; nationalisms and so-called populisms. More than considering visuality as a key-resource to understand the world and its organizing dynamics, the originality of visual politics relies on the methods and theories used and developed by its scholars.