On Political Impasse

Power is classically understood as the playing out of relations between the ruler and the ruled. Political impasse is often viewed as a moment in which no clear-cut delineation of power exists resulting in an overwhelming sense of frustration or feeling stuck in a no-win situation. The new globalised world has produced a real shift in how power works: not only has power been concentrated in the hands of very few while many millions become more oppressed by radical shortages and growing costs but we also have a new category of political subjectivity in which many find themselves neither rulers nor radically oppressed. Those who live the neither/nor of contemporary power live the new global impasse. <br/><br/>For those of us who are stuck and compelled to wait for dominant power to break this book uncovers possibilities in thought imagination and self-appropriation through <i>oikeiosis</i> that is making oneself at home in oneself and constancy.