A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity
Encyclopedia
A New Philosophy of Society (Manuel De Landa)=
ANPS is an attempt to loosely define a new ontology
for use by social theorists
- one that challenges the existing paradigm
of meaningful social analyses being possible only on the level of either individuals (micro-reductionism) or 'society as a whole' (macro-reductionism). Instead, ANPS employs Deleuze's theory of assemblages to posit social entities on all scales (from sub-individual to transnational) that are best analysed through their components (themselves assemblages).
-> deterritorializing
axis indicating processes in which a component is involved. These components are defined by relations of exteriority, i.e. their 'role' within a larger assemblage is not what defines them (this would be a relation of interiority). This means that a component is self-subsistent and may be 'unplugged' from one assemblage and 'plugged' into another without losing its identity. A third axis defines processes in which specialized expressive media (genetic/linguistic resources) intervene in 'coding'/'decoding' the assemblage.
According to De Landa, following Deleuze's ideas of difference and repetition
(what De Landa calls 'variable repetition'), assemblages necessarily exist in heterogeneous populations. The relationship between an assemblage and its components is complex and non-linear: assemblages are formed and affected by heterogeneous populations of lower-level assemblages, but may also act back upon these components, imposing restraints or adaptations in them.
Importantly, De Landa merges Deleuze's ideas of both assemblages and strata into his model of assemblages, regarding the distinction as inconsequential in the context of ANPS. He does however maintain the idea of assemblages as non-essentialist (they are historically contingent actual entities, not instances of ideal forms) and non-totalizing (assemblages are not seamless totalities but collections of heterogeneous components that should be analysed as such).
Consistent with De Landa's materialist position, the book also includes as a secondary task a sustained criticism of the primacy of post-modernist linguistic analysis in social science (the theory of the linguisticality of experience).
ANPS is an attempt to loosely define a new ontology
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
for use by social theorists
Social theory
Social theories are theoretical frameworks which are used to study and interpret social phenomena within a particular school of thought. An essential tool used by social scientists, theories relate to historical debates over the most valid and reliable methodologies , as well as the primacy of...
- one that challenges the existing paradigm
Paradigm
The word paradigm has been used in science to describe distinct concepts. It comes from Greek "παράδειγμα" , "pattern, example, sample" from the verb "παραδείκνυμι" , "exhibit, represent, expose" and that from "παρά" , "beside, beyond" + "δείκνυμι" , "to show, to point out".The original Greek...
of meaningful social analyses being possible only on the level of either individuals (micro-reductionism) or 'society as a whole' (macro-reductionism). Instead, ANPS employs Deleuze's theory of assemblages to posit social entities on all scales (from sub-individual to transnational) that are best analysed through their components (themselves assemblages).
Main ideas
Components are characterized along two primary axes/dimensions: a material (Deleuze's 'content') -> expressive axis which defines the variable roles a component may play, and a territorializingReterritorialization
Reterritorialization is the restructuring of a place or territory that has experienced deterritorialization. Deterritorialization is a term created by Deleuze and Guattari in their philosophical project Capitalism and Schizophrenia . They distinguished that relative deterritorialization is always...
-> deterritorializing
Deterritorialization
Deterritorialization is a concept created by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in Anti-Oedipus , which, in accordance to Deleuze's desire and philosophy, quickly became used by others, for example in anthropology, and transformed in this reappropriation...
axis indicating processes in which a component is involved. These components are defined by relations of exteriority, i.e. their 'role' within a larger assemblage is not what defines them (this would be a relation of interiority). This means that a component is self-subsistent and may be 'unplugged' from one assemblage and 'plugged' into another without losing its identity. A third axis defines processes in which specialized expressive media (genetic/linguistic resources) intervene in 'coding'/'decoding' the assemblage.
According to De Landa, following Deleuze's ideas of difference and repetition
Difference and Repetition
Difference and Repetition is a book by philosopher Gilles Deleuze, originally published in 1968 in France under the title Différence et Répétition...
(what De Landa calls 'variable repetition'), assemblages necessarily exist in heterogeneous populations. The relationship between an assemblage and its components is complex and non-linear: assemblages are formed and affected by heterogeneous populations of lower-level assemblages, but may also act back upon these components, imposing restraints or adaptations in them.
Importantly, De Landa merges Deleuze's ideas of both assemblages and strata into his model of assemblages, regarding the distinction as inconsequential in the context of ANPS. He does however maintain the idea of assemblages as non-essentialist (they are historically contingent actual entities, not instances of ideal forms) and non-totalizing (assemblages are not seamless totalities but collections of heterogeneous components that should be analysed as such).
Examples
As an example of an assemblage (as defined by De Landa) consider an ecosystem:- The material role here is performed by the soil, sunlight, trees, animals, etc.
- The expressive role is performed by the forms, colours, habits, etc. of the aforementioned components.
- The territorializing role would be played by factors such as food chains, adaptive traits, conducive climate and other elements that maintain the components and their relationships and thus the identity and durability of the assemblage.
- The deterritorializing role would be played by such factors as climate changeClimate changeClimate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, invasionInvasionAn invasion is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a...
by exotic species, evolutionary mutationMutationIn molecular biology and genetics, mutations are changes in a genomic sequence: the DNA sequence of a cell's genome or the DNA or RNA sequence of a virus. They can be defined as sudden and spontaneous changes in the cell. Mutations are caused by radiation, viruses, transposons and mutagenic...
and other elements that recombine or replace various components and roles within the assemblage, leading to its dissipation or reformulation. - A linguistic/coding role could be played by an environmental discourse seeking to protect an ecosystemEcosystemAn ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
.
Consistent with De Landa's materialist position, the book also includes as a secondary task a sustained criticism of the primacy of post-modernist linguistic analysis in social science (the theory of the linguisticality of experience).