The A√ect Theory Reader THE AFFECT THEORY READER Edited by Melissa Gregg and Gregory J. Seigworth duke university press Durham & London 2010 ∫ 2010 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper $ Designed by Jennifer Hill. Typeset in Minion Pro by Keystone Typesetting, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data appear on the last printed page of this book. Brian Massumi’s ‘‘The Future Birth of the A√ective Fact: The Political Ontology of Threat’’ was originally published in Indexicality and Virtuality, edited by Griselda Pollock (I. B. Taurus, 2010). An earlier version of Elspeth Probyn’s ‘‘Writing Shame’’ appeared in Blush: Faces of Shame (Minnesota, 2005). An earlier version of Lauren Berlant’s ‘‘Cruel Optimism’’ appeared in di√erences 17(3) (2006): 20–36. An earlier version of Nigel Thrift’s ‘‘Understanding the Material Practices of Glamour’’ appeared in Journal of Cultural Economy 1(1) (2008): 9–23. An earlier version of Patricia Clough’s ‘‘The A√ective Turn: Political Economy, Biomedia, and Bodies’’ appeared in Theory, Culture, and Society, 25(1) (2008): 1–22. In memory of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick 1950–2009 CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix An Inventory of Shimmers 1 Gregory J. Seigworth & Melissa Gregg ONE Impingements 1 Happy Objects 29 Sara Ahmed 2 The Future Birth of the A√ective Fact: The Political Ontology of Threat 52 Brian Massumi 3 Writing Shame 71 Elspeth Probyn TWO Aesthetics and the Everyday 4 Cruel Optimism 93 Lauren Berlant 5 Bitter after Taste: A√ect, Food, and Social Aesthetics 118 Ben Highmore viii Contents 6 An Ethics of Everyday Infinities and Powers: Félix Guattari on A√ect and the Refrain 138 Lone Bertelsen & Andrew Murphie THREE Incorporeal/Inorganic 7 Modulating the Excess of A√ect: Morale in a State of ‘‘Total War’’ 161 Ben Anderson 8 After A√ect: Sympathy, Synchrony, and Mimetic Communication 186 Anna Gibbs 9 The A√ective Turn: Political Economy, Biomedia, and Bodies 206 Patricia T. Clough FOUR Managing A√ects 10 E√ the Ine√able: A√ect, Somatic Management, and Mental Health Service Users 229 Steven D. Brown & Ian Tucker 11 On Friday Night Drinks: Workplace A√ects in the Age of the Cubicle 250 Melissa Gregg 12 Desiring Recognition, Accumulating A√ect 269 Megan Watkins FIVE After A√ect 13 Understanding the Material Practices of Glamour 289 Nigel Thrift 14 A√ect’s Future: Rediscovering the Virtual in the Actual 309 Lawrence Grossberg (Interviewed by Gregory J. Seigworth & Melissa Gregg) Afterword: Worlding Refrains 339 Kathleen Stewart References 355 Contributors 381 Index 385 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Partway through the introduction to this collection, it will become clear why it was significant that I read Greg’s final draft while I was cramped on the floor of a late train during a long and crowded commute. I write these words from a new home, having embarked on an experiment to disrupt some old habits and hopefully allow more time to register ‘‘the stretching.’’ By sheer coincidence, during the final stages of this project both Greg and I moved house on opposite sides of the world in the very same week. This is just one of the sweet synergies and sympathies we have shared over the years that I hope will continue long after this publication. It is Greg’s venerable alac- rity as a reader that makes me so delighted that a book now stands as an archive of the hope and sustenance I have gained from a defining intellectual friendship. Greg’s brilliant mind, graceful words, and contagious hospitality have made this a far greater achievement than I could have imagined. Our contributors have been more than generous in o√ering words, a≈rmation, and patience during the long gestation of this collection. We thank them for believing in us and persist- ing through the many stages—and hope they enjoy the result.