Seminary report: Paul Virilio, Speed and Politics

As we proclaim in the last post, today was held the first reading-seminary for the 2015-2016 course. We have discussed a very famous book by Paul Virilio: Speed and Politics, and here we propose some key elements about our meeting:

• Virilio is quite close to Deleuze & Guattari when they talked about the Machine War and de nomads. In this sense, we can say speed is "smoothing" the territory as the Machine War does for Deleuze and Guattari. 
• In relation to Foucault, there is rather different: actually, Foucault talks about territory as a concrete place, a closed place. In this vein, Virilio is close to a Serre's conception from speed and movement as a flux.
• Virilio points out that to control is manage the movement. He we can hear echoes from our proposal of cinepolitics, 40 years before we think it.
• Finally, we leave here some considerations we can use in the future for our work:

About speed producers: What are they? The revolution (in a initial sense) starts on flows.

Alongside the classic dichotomies of social thought, we have to study another one: the station-movement: there are points that we arrive and others which those we starts, and flows.

Viruses are a war front. The policy is circulation organization (Agamben says it's organization / management of life, not circulation/movement)

The movement needs a vehicle: a materiality is needed in order to move.

 Photo Credit: Flickr, user Dennis Van Zuijlekom

New course, new seminary: Paul Virilio

After a long break due to holidays and to the new course planification, we start announcing next wednesday is our first seminary for this course. 

In this season, we will read and discuss about Paul Virilio's work, "Speed and Politics". Book abstract from amazon says: "Speed and Politics (first published in France in 1977) is the matrix of Virilio's entire work. Building on the works of Morand, Marinetti, and McLuhan, Virilio presents a vision more radically political than that of any of his French contemporaries: speed as the engine of destruction. Speed and Politics presents a topological account of the entire history of humanity, honing in on the technological advances made possible through the militarization of society. Paralleling Heidegger's account of technology, Virilio's vision sees speed--not class or wealth--as the primary force shaping civilization. In this "technical vitalism," multiple projectiles--inert fortresses and bunkers, the "metabolic bodies" of soldiers, transport vessels, and now information and computer technology--are launched in a permanent assault on the world and on human nature. Written at a lightning-fast pace, Virilio's landmark book is a split-second, overwhelming look at how humanity's motivity has shaped the way we function today, and what might come of it."

Next post will be about the result of this seminary, but meanwhile, we want to expose the importance of this book for our research:

1. In first place, Virilio is one of the most known authors in the Social Sciences realm that works with speed concept. In fact, his main acknowledgement is by the "dromology" concept, or how war and technology are at the basis of the main events in the recent History.
2. Because we are working on acceleration operators, is important to know some implications and authors that have worked this concept either in other realms  and frameworks. Virilio and Halmut Rosa, for instance, are two of the most important exponents about this question (Maybe in future we will post about the Rosa's work).
3. We consider is also important to discuss this conception and wide it with our personal opinion, enriched along the two last years with our previous work. We hope learn not only from Virilio, but everyone who comes this wednesday.
4. Finally, we want to understand Virilio's work as a "door" whereby we can acces to a new range of authors and theories in order to write a new paper in the coming months.

That's all. We will be waiting for you next wednesday, at 11:00 in the Ana Garay's room, Social Psychology Deparment, UAB.

Thank you!

Photo Credit: Wikipedia