Affective authoritarianism as joyful 'oeuvre?' Godly Subjects and Suburban Gladiators.
This paper presents the spatial experience of authoritarianism as a dynamic atmosphere with the seductive potential for radical joy. For Lefebvre (1996), joyful co-creation of space – an 'oeuvre' – was a vital facet of everyday urban life. As such, the paper challenges normative portrayals of author...
| Publicado en: | Cultural Geographies Vol. 33; no. 2; pp. 199 - 217 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Sage Publications Inc.
Apr2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=192767687&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 192767687 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 14744740 HWO jtl: Cultural Geographies issn: 14744740 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 33 iid: 2 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. artinfo: ui: 192767687 10.1177/14744740241274339 ppf: 199 ppct: 18 formats: tig: atl: Affective authoritarianism as joyful 'oeuvre?' Godly Subjects and Suburban Gladiators. aug: au: Luger, Jason affil: Northumbria University, UK su: Authoritarianism Affect (Psychology) Space perception Cultural geography Ethnographic analysis Power (Social sciences) Urban life sug: subj: Authoritarianism Affect (Psychology) Space perception Cultural geography Ethnographic analysis Power (Social sciences) Urban life keyword: affect authoritarianism biopolitics comparative urbanism urban geography ab: This paper presents the spatial experience of authoritarianism as a dynamic atmosphere with the seductive potential for radical joy. For Lefebvre (1996), joyful co-creation of space – an 'oeuvre' – was a vital facet of everyday urban life. As such, the paper challenges normative portrayals of authoritarianism as an inherently joyless, bleak and oppressive operation of power, and delves deeper into its variegated, contextually contingent and complex P/political spatialisations, conflicts and contradictions. Affect emerges as a productive lens through which to explore the complexities, range of emotions, identities and world-makings of authoritarian space, and its paradoxical capacity for joy. The paper draws from ethnographic reflections and spatial vignettes from three comparative experiences in different parts of the world: a mega-church service in suburban Singapore, and visits to two suburban hardcore gyms (in Northern England and Southeastern United States). These experiences are thematically framed as spaces of 'Godly Subjects' and 'Gladiators'. They are spiritual, exhilarating spaces; spaces of radical possibilities. They are also inherently hierarchal, patriarchal, disciplined and oppressive. Thus, conjunctural subjectivities are affectively embodied in these spaces resulting in conflictual experiences. Though joyful, these are spaces of 'cruel optimism', where desire and aspiration are caught in a loop of un-achievability. Such is the contradictory nature of authoritarian power/space. However, whilst critical, the paper avoids an easy taxonomy of authoritarianism into clear binaries, framing it as both an open and closed socio-cultural-political space, and highlighting how and why more affective and spatialised readings of authoritarianism are needed across contextual cultural geographies at this moment. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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