Articles by: Eliza Steinbock

Eliza Steinbock is Associate Professor of Gender and Diversity Studies at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Their research on transgender visual cultures is committed to mapping out the interconnections of social realities with art-making through the prism of affect. They have authored over 40 essays, were awarded best first book by the Society for Cinema and Media Studies for Shimmering Images: Trans Cinema, Embodiment, and the Aesthetics of Change (2019), and co-edited Art and Activism in the Age of Systemic Crisis: Aesthetic Resilience (2020). In the Netherlands, Eliza is project-leader of the national consortium ‘The Critical Visitor: Intersectional Approaches for Rethinking and Retooling Accessibility and Inclusivity in Heritage Spaces,’ (2020-2025) funded by the Dutch Research Council.

21-Apr-2022

How Is Affect Related to the Social?

How Is Affect Related to the Social?

This essay will describe the analytical frameworks that affect studies has propagated that will be especially helpful for the scholar/artist invested in social justice issues to learn about as they critically think and create. Given that affect theory and the study of emotions are vast fields, full of competing and conflicting ideas, I have narrowed down my discussion to the contribution of feminist and queer (of colour) scholarship. This body of thought addresses affect in light of racial injustice, class and gender inequalities, climate justice, the rights of migrants and refugees, the discrimination of LGBTQ+ people, ageism and ableism. These pressing challenges of the twenty-first century are at the foreground of contemporary literature and art that seeks to effectuate a cultural intervention, and are therefore issues emphasised within the curriculums of art academies and humanities programmes. Guiding my essay is the question: How is affect related to the social?