Affective Labor and Governmental Policy: George W. Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health

Kristin A. Swenson

doi:10.2478/v10076-011-0010-7

Affective Labor and Governmental Policy: George W. Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

As affective labor is becoming more dominant in contemporary capitalism, the affect of the body politic is increasingly important. This article argues for a theory of the affective state apparatus to account for the state‟s role in governing the affect of the population. An analysis of George W. Bush‟s Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America reveals that an affective state apparatus functions to capture, constitute, and circulate the affects of the population. This article contends that an affective state apparatus operates through the very intimacies of our bodies in order to produce ever more efficient and productive capitalist subjects.

Original language	American English
Journal	Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication
Volume	4
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2478/v10076-011-0010-7
State	Published - Jan 1 2011

Keywords

Affective labor
George W. Bush
affective state apparatus
mental health

Disciplines

Communication
Law and Society
Social Influence and Political Communication

Access to Document

10.2478/v10076-011-0010-7License: Unspecified

Affective Labor and Governmental Policy George WFinal published version, 663 KBLicense: Unspecified

Cite this

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abstract = " As affective labor is becoming more dominant in contemporary capitalism, the affect of the body politic is increasingly important. This article argues for a theory of the affective state apparatus to account for the state‟s role in governing the affect of the population. An analysis of George W. Bush‟s Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America reveals that an affective state apparatus functions to capture, constitute, and circulate the affects of the population. This article contends that an affective state apparatus operates through the very intimacies of our bodies in order to produce ever more efficient and productive capitalist subjects.",

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Affective Labor and Governmental Policy: George W. Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health

Abstract

Keywords

Disciplines

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