Aesthetics and Political Culture in Modern Society [Paperback]

Do aesthetic appeals to senses and emotions in political debate necessarily marginalise political reason and reduce citizens to consumers  thus dangerously undermining democracy? Or is sensuous-emotional engagement, on the contrary, a basic fact of the political process and a crucial precondition for revitalising democracy?

Aesthetics and Political Culture in Modern Society investigates the current interrelationship between aesthetic practice and political practice in Western democracies, focusing on its impact on democratic political culture. Henrik Kaare Nielsen argues that aesthetic interventions in the political process do not by definition undermine politics content of reason. Instead, a differentiation must be made between a multiplicity of aesthetic forms of intervention  some of which tend to weaken the political judgement of citizens while other forms tend to stimulate competent judgement.

This book will be of interest to scholars in the fields of political science, sociology, media studies, and cultural studies.

1. Introduction  2. Politics and democracy  3. Public space and late modern forms of public practice  4. Political and aesthetic discursive practice  5. Power-oriented aesthetic interventions in politics  6. Artistic interventions in the field of political practice  7. Current developmental perspectives of public discourse

Aesthetics and Political Culture in Modern Society investigates the current interrelationship between aesthetic practice and political practice in Western democracies, focusing on its impact on democratic political culture.

Henrik Kaare Nielsen is Professor of Aesthetics and Culture at Aarhus University, Denmark. He is an interdisciplinary researcher working in the field between thelƒ5