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Book Review: Sensible Politics: Visualizing International Relations by William A. Callahan – USAPP American Politics and Policy (blog)

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In Sensible Politics: Visualizing International Relations, William A. Callahan focuses on the role of visuality in world politics, pushing ideas on what the visual can do through a broad investigation into all things visible and everyday, ranging from film and borders to beauty pageants and maps. Offering a multisensory reading experience in its own interplay of image and text, Sensible Politics is a key marker to where thinking on theories of world order goes next, writes Sophie Harman.

Sensible Politics: Visualizing International Relations. William A. Callahan. Oxford University Press. 2020.

Reading and writing a review at the height of a global pandemic is a sensory experience. Your nerves are slightly frayed from worry for friends and colleagues, you are reading in a different location on account of ‘lockdown’ to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and in taking the time to read and engage in scholarly work, you are trying to redirect mind and body to something else. William A. Callahan, in his new book Sensible Politics, brings to the fore such sensory engagements with world politics, whereby we are pushed ‘to think of politics in a different register that is more attentive to the visceral politics of everyday bodily practices, wherein both elites and non-elites creatively participate in affective communities of sense. Sensible Politics is about multisensory politics; but it also looks beyond icons and ideology to ‘‘what makes sense’’ in the pragmatic politics of everyday life’ (310).

Visceral, multisensory and the pragmatic politics of everyday life sum up the discombobulating experience of living through a global pandemic. But as Callahan deftly argues, Sensible Politics is not just about the deconstruction of political events such as COVID-19 (or surveillance, quarantine and leprosy, as he explores in Chapter Eleven); it is more about the ‘productive tension’ between such visibility and visuality – how the visual can ‘do’ things.

It is the doing that presents the real promise of the book: to develop our understanding of visual politics beyond the visible – how we read and deconstruct the politics of the visual – to visuality, what the visual can do, how it can construct social and world orders. This is a big claim. Can a garden construct a world order? Absolutely. Gardens are heterotopias, Callahan argues, and ‘garden-building is theory building: by producing new sites and sensibilities, it creatively shapes our understanding of IR’ (270). The fun of reading this book is not just the ideas within it, but how Callahan goes on to explore them. Visual and aesthetic politics have gone beyond their initial turns in International Relations to become a sub-field of innovative theory and research, and a handful of scholars have started to explore ‘sensory democracy’ and politics. In Sensible Politics, Callahan pushes these ideas on what the visual can do in world politics, through a broad investigation into all things visible and everyday, from the sites of his previous work – film, borders, China – to contentious issues of global politics such as the veil, beauty pageants and maps.

For Callahan the making of theory, social orders and world orders derives from the ‘dynamic dyad’ between visibility and visuality, where visibility relates to the search for meaning, social constructions and the politics of representation of the visual; and visuality to how visual artifacts can ‘do’ things. Here Callahan builds on the work of prominent scholars such as Roland Bleiker, Lene Hansen, Emma Hutchison, Jacques Ranciére and Michael J. Shapiro. However, he also extends their established ideas on affective registers and sensory politics by drawing on an assemblage of concepts from western, Chinese and Asian thought. This is a strength of the book. Callahan deftly explores the self-evident ways in which the image and the text have always been in dyadic encounters with each other in Chinese and Asian thought, and effectively relates such dyadic interplays to the wider politics of China as imperial and imperial subject. As Callahan argues: ‘what is most interesting about these Chinese dyads is the general lack of stable canonic definition: there is no orthodoxy, and the dyads’ contingent flexibility demands that we make sense of each dynamic through continual interpretive practice’ (224). Visual and multisensory politics have always existed in world making and international relations; it just depends where you look.

At times this reads as a book of issues or hobbies that occupy Callahan’s mind, which he has then thought about within the context of his wider work. Why these specific sites or artifacts are chosen for their world-making potential and how they inter-relate are not always clear. Chapter Eight on ‘The Sartorial Engineering of Race, Gender, and Faith’ and its discussion on the veil and beauty pageants made me wince in parts, and at times it seemed the subjects were selected more for their contentious content than for their wider contribution to the argument. Callahan does acknowledge his own positionality in writing about such topics and the need to ‘be careful in our analysis’ (181), and he is attentive to established scholarly work on these issues. Contention and my sensory ‘wince’ are perhaps two of the affects Callahan seeks to produce and thus the chapter and its main argument make their point. In part, the site selection does not matter and does not distract from their relevance, but they also read as the sort of choices you can get away with once you are an established Professor. This is less a criticism of the book and more of a reflection on what scholars can ‘do’ within the field of IR and perhaps when they are allowed to do it. Callahan is not seeking permission here, and as such, he can play not only with site selection but also with his writing style.

A common question asked to scholars interested in visual politics is, given the emphasis on the visual, why recourse to the written word to explain and give meaning? Callahan uses this question to explain why he wrote the book, and makes clear that he also works in visual forms, most notably short documentary film. However, he also goes much further than this in the form in which he writes the book. The book is in many ways back to front, with the conclusions reading as introductions, with different chapters contributing to the wider narrative but seeming as individual essays, and the inclusion of visual images throughout. The result is that Sensible Politics is the one book I’ve read on visual politics that applies critical thinking on what the visual can do – rupture, appeal to the senses, disorient – to the written word. The written word exists in ‘dynamic dyad’ with the images in the book, while the structure and the chapters interline to create a multisensory experience in reading it: Callahan is not just telling us about such dyadic interactions, he is showing us.

There are wider questions and conversations I had in my mind when reading Sensible Politics. There are small snippets throughout the book, such as the discussion on the informed consent of participants in one of Callahan’s films, Toilet Adventures (83), that point to much larger questions, such as how do we account for ethics in this way of theory making? If images can create war, how do we hold them to account for their actions? What is the agency of beauty queens in the nations they are constructing? In sum, if visual artifacts do world politics, how can we understand, account for and contest their agency? The answers to these questions are as exciting as the questions posed within the book, and thus make Sensible Politics a key marker to where thinking on theories of world order goes next.

  • This review originally appeared at the LSE Review of Books.
  • Image credit: 171022-N-VR594-0004. ‘Big eyes’ binoculars are used to scan the horizon as the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) transits the Strait of Hormuz Oct. 22, 2017. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kelsey J. Hockenberger (US Department of Defense Current Photos Public Domain).

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Note: This article gives the views of the authors, and not the position of USAPP– American Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics.

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About the reviewer

Sophie Harman – Queen Mary University of London
Sophie Harman is Professor of International Politics at Queen Mary University of London where she teaches and conducts research into Global Health Politics, Africa and International Relations, and Visual Politics. She is the author of Seeing Politics: Film, Visual Method, and International Relations.

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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November 8, 2024

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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November 8, 2024

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REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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November 7, 2024

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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