Abstract
In this paper, I argue that the recent work on mirror neurons illuminates the character of our capacities for a politics of resonant receptivity in ways that both help us to comprehend the damages of our contemporary order and suggest indispensable alternative ethical_strategic registers and possible directions for organising a powerful movement towards radical democracy. In doing so, neuroscience simultaneously contributes to our understanding of the possibility and importance of a more durable (less fugitive) radically democratic habitus. While the trope, 'radically democratic habitus', may seem oxymoronic in light of Bourdieu's extensive rendering of 'habitus', I suggest that research on mirror neurons discloses ways in which iterated practices and dispositional structures are crucial for democratic freedom.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 273-293 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | Ethics and Global Politics |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2011 |
Keywords
- Affect
- Habitus
- Mimesis
- Mirror neurons
- Political resonance
- Radical democracy
- Receptivity
- Resonance machine
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science
- Political Science and International Relations