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Art's Assemblies

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Art's Assemblies presents a new political aesthetics for the present. Claudia Breger makes a case for art's power to act politically in significant, manifold ways by reconnecting twenty-first-centu...
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  • 27 October 2026
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Art's Assemblies presents a new political aesthetics for the present. Claudia Breger makes a case for art's power to act politically in significant, manifold ways by reconnecting twenty-first-century philosophical frameworks to the more boldly political aesthetics of European modernisms, particularly as developed in response to historical fascism. Thus, the book develops dialogues between recent work in actor-network-theory, Black radical thought, neo-marxism, affect, and queer studies, and the twentieth-century tradition of critical theory, with literature, film, TV, and art installation examples included. As acts of political alignment as well as imaginative prefiguration, "art's assemblies" bring together heterogeneous elements and actions in (polyphonic) "political concert." This includes how artworks "track" and "trace" pieces of real-world materials even in fantastic contexts; how they work through unfinished histories of violence and dehumanization by "animating" archival documents; how they "fabulate" different historical accounts without engaging in the "forging" actions of fake news; and how they counter the accumulated nightmares surrounding us through practices of "dreaming" interwoven with actions of "drafting" or "demanding." In this challenging political moment, Breger's work speaks across disciplines to articulate a new vision of how art can engage with the world—and imagine different futures.

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Price: $140.00
Pages: 272
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Imprint: Stanford University Press
Publication Date: 27 October 2026
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9781503649163
Format: Hardcover
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"A capacious and masterful intervention, Breger's study brings interwar critical theory into vibrant dialogue with contemporary thought and artistic practice. It offers a powerful model for reanimating political aesthetics for our crisis-ridden present."—Nicholas Baer, University of California, Berkeley

"Breger makes a compelling case for reevaluating the politics of contemporary art through the lens of Frankfurt School thought. Against all odds, her engaged and engaging readings restore faith in art's radical and democratic potential."—Lutz Koepnick, Vanderbilt University
Claudia Breger is Villard Professor of German and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, and author, most recently, of Making Worlds: Affect and Collectivity in Contemporary European Cinema (2020).