The Politics of the Impure is a book investigating the urge for the pure, and advocating a much deeper need for the impure. Instead of looking backward to reinstate a new organicism or back-to-nature movement, The Politics of the Impure traces a forward progression to a point where all modernist values reverse, where technology becomes an agent for the impure and the imperfect. Technology, long an agent for homogeneity and purity, is now turning into one for heterogeneity and global contingency. Modernist belief was informed by the vision of technology as a tool of reduction, purifying nature from a state of randomness into one of cleansed controllability and perfection. It was not just the art of modernism that was all about purity and the search for abstraction, the same logic and politics of purity were also at work in rationalized agriculture, refined food, urban planning, population control, and the experience of the Other, both as the goal and the legitimization of the means to reach that goal. This goal had amazing, world changing consequences – but also with devastating effects for the environment, climate, cultural diversity, biopolitics, and city and country life.
This rich and complex volume will be explored in the convivial atmosphere of a reading group. The reading group will be led by Arjen Mulder, author of one of the essays in the book and editor at V2_ Publishing. Join us for free refreshments and animated discussion of the book in four meetings in Amsterdam, at SMART Project Space. Joining the Reading Group is free but a reservation is required. The reading group members will also enjoy a 5 EUR discount on the purchase price of the book.
Reservations
Reserve your place in the reading group (admission: free) and order your book with 5 EUR discount by emailing reservations[at]v2.nl
Places are limited so book early!