The Policy of Familiarity. Towards a Political Ethnography of Affective Practices

The Policy of Familiarity. Towards a Political Ethnography of Affective Practices

In this article, some contributions from the anthropology of the state and cli­entelism are linked to illuminate the affective dimension of client relationships between professional politicians, bureaucrats, neighborhood leaders, and neigh­bors in a local Chilean context. The main thesis categorizes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Desafios (Bogotá, Colombia) Vol. 31; no. 2; p. 97
Main Author: David Luján Verón
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Spanish
Published: Bogota Universidad del Rosario, Centro de Estudios Politicos e Internacionales 01-07-2019
Subjects:
Anthropology
Bureaucrats
Client relationships
Clientelism
Emotions
Ethnography
Familiarity
Individualism
Neighborhoods
Politicians
Politics
Prejudice
Social relations
Chile
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Summary:In this article, some contributions from the anthropology of the state and cli­entelism are linked to illuminate the affective dimension of client relationships between professional politicians, bureaucrats, neighborhood leaders, and neigh­bors in a local Chilean context. The main thesis categorizes their practices as a ‘familiarity policy’, through which mutual knowledge, trust and emotions are invoked to generate concord, and inhibit disagreement and conflict. This approach allows us to observe the network of social relations in play in a more granular and adequate fashion. Conclusions encourage placing emotions at center stage in the study of political relations in general and clientelistic rela­tions in particular, stripping it of rationalist and individualist prejudices.
ISSN:0124-4035
2145-5112
DOI:10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/desafios/a.7292