Abstract

The Reinvention of Social Practices shows the relevance of Félix Guattari's thought for the analysis of contemporary social and cultural encounters, ranging across an alternative ‘skateboard’ school, informatic subjugations, urban ecological dilemmas, drug subcultures, and countercultures. Gary Genosko, the leading English interpreter of Guattari, expands upon Guattari’s conception of schizoanalysis as a transformative process of critical self-modelling that leads to the creation of new maps of existence, highlighting an interpretive dream pragmatics, a peripatetic psychiatric practice, a rethinking of epilepsy, and a post-media vision of digital interfaces beyond the keyboard. The folds of Guattari’s collaborations with Gilles Deleuze and Antonio Negri are explored, and his philosophical friendship with Franco Bifo Berardi is brought into focus.
Genosko has long been our surest guide to Guattari’s thought, and here he puts that thought to work in wide-ranging studies of infocapital’s psychosocial predations and challenges. More than mere explication or mechanical application of Guattari’s concepts, these essays offer original and much-needed insights into the possibilities open to us for transforming contemporary institutions and mentalities.
Ronald Bogue, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature, University of Georgia
Gary Genosko is Professor of Communication and Digital Media Studies at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.His many publications include The Guattari Reader (1996), Félix Guattari: An Aberrant Introduction (2002), Félix Guattari: A Critical Introduction (2009) and Machinic Eros: Félix Guattari’s Writings on Japan (2015).