Affectation

In this chapter we explore the ethical and epistemological implications of affective dynamics within collaborative a qualitative research project with a transformative social justice agenda in a community college in New York City carried out by the first author. Rooted in the Transformative Activist Stance expansive reconstruction of Vygotsky's project, this project was centrally concerned with joining in with struggles on-the-ground of a student diagnosed with autism for egalitarian educational and community practices while fighting discrimination and righting injustices. Drawing on contemporary affect theory (the affective turn) and Vygotsky's works on emotions, both influenced by Spinoza's philosophical theory of affective bodies, we foreground affective dynamics underpinning the activist role of researchers to disclose its potential AU: To indicate corrections to these proofs, please use latest Adobe Acrobat or lower version. Use the Commenting tool, which can be accessed on the current version by right clicking on the pdf and selecting Add Sticky Note. Position the Sticky Note where you want the correction made and insert revisons text inside the Sticky Note. The corrected text can also be highlighted by selecting the text, right clicking, and selecting Highlight Text. The Strikethrough Text option can be used indicated text to delete. Please DO NOT directly edit or copy and paste corrections to the pdf. Doing so will adversely affect formatting and jumble the text. Failure to comply to these requirements will result in the corrected proof not being accepted and returned to the author. 36 D. PODLUCKÁ and E. VIANNA to come to know oppressive institutional practices, unsettle relationships and community practices, intensely affect participants and stir strong feelings and emotions, including among researchers themselves. The examination of the research project described concludes that actively and affectively organizing encounters through collaborative inquiry projects is central to the activist role of the qualitative researcher. This chapter seeks to extend the discussion of ethico-political issues, such as risk, vulnerability, attachments, and commitments, in activist qualitative research.

The ability to focus on relevant information is central to human cognition. It is therefore hardly unsurprising that the notion of relevance appears across a range of different disciplines. As well as its central role in relevance-theoretic pragmatics, for example, relevance is also a core concept in affective science, where there is consensus that for a particular object or event to elicit an emotional state, that object or event needs to be relevant to the person in whom that state is elicited. Despite this, although some affective scientists have carefully considered what emotional relevance might mean, surprisingly little research has been dedicated to providing a definition. Since, by contrast, the relevance-theoretic notion of relevance is carefully defined, our primary aim is to compare relevance as it exists in affective science and in relevance theory, A further aim is to redress what we perceive to be an imbalance: Affective scientists have made great strides in understanding the processes of emotion elicitation/responses etc., but despite the fact that among humans the communication of information about emotional states is ubiquitous, pragmatists have tended to ignore it. We conclude, therefore, that affective science and relevance theory have much to learn from each other.

Resumen: a través de una recuperación de las reflexiones metodológicas de Favret-Saada sobre la afectación, en este artículo realizaré una descripción analítica de las prácticas de colectivización en la comunidad aborigen de San Miguel de Colorados (Noroeste de Argentina) y su relación con otras formas de gestión colectiva. Los registros que voy a comentar están basados en mi experiencia etnográfica como investigador y corresponsable de un proyecto comunitario de edición de un libro con la historia de Colorados. Esta situación nos llevó a mí y a las familias de la comunidad a articular modos de organizar el trabajo y las decisiones por momentos muy diferentes, lo que dio lugar a una serie de quejas, reclamos y desencuentros que han impactado de múltiples formas en el desarrollo del proyecto.

Siguiendo las conceptualizaciones de Favret-Saada sobre la importancia de la comunicación involuntaria y no representacional en la praxis social —o lo que Stengers llama su dimensión pragmática—, describo cómo los coloradeños y yo nos afectamos mutua, pero diferencialmente, a raíz del proyecto del libro. La intención es explicitar las posiciones relacionales que movilizan estas afectaciones, para mostrar que en el origen de esta comunicación involuntaria se aloja un malentendido pragmático; una equivocación entre una definición de la acción colectiva como resultado del consenso representativo y otra en que las decisiones comunitarias se forman por medio del alineamiento temporal —y muchas veces conflictivo— de las familias y sus puntos de vista. Este análisis busca hacer un aporte a la reflexión antropológica en contextos colaborativos, a partir de considerar la implicancia de las teorías y prácticas nativas de la organización colectiva.

Palabras clave: afectación, conflictos indígenas y territoriales, equivocación, estudios andinos, proyectos comunitarios.

Affecting One Another. Ethnographic Considerations on Collaborative Relations and Misunderstandings in an Indigenous Community in the Puna of Jujuy, Argentina

Abstract: Using Favret-Saada’s methodological reflections on affectation, in this article, I will provide an analytical description of collectivization practices in the aboriginal community of San Miguel de Colorados (Northwest Argentina) and their relationship with other forms of collective management. The records I am going to comment on are based on my ethnographic experience as a researcher and co-director of a community project to publish a book on the history of Colorados. This led me and the families of the community to organize the work and decisions in very different ways, giving rise to a series of complaints, claims, and disagreements that have impacted the development of the project in many different ways.

Following Favret-Saada’s conceptualizations of the importance of involuntary and non-representational communication in social praxis —or what Stengers calls the pragmatic dimension—, I describe how Coloradans and I are mutually, but differentially, affected by the book project. The idea is to explain the relational positions that mobilize these affectations, to demonstrate that this involuntary communication is rooted in a pragmatic misunderstanding; a misunderstanding between a definition of collective action as the result of representative consensus and another in which community decisions are formed through the temporary —and often conflictive— alignment of families and their points of view. This analysis is intended to contribute to anthropological reflection in collaborative contexts by considering the implications of native theories and practices of collective organization.

Keywords: Affecting, Andean studies, community projects, indigenous and territorial conflicts, misunderstanding.

Afetar-se mutuamente. Considerações etnográficas sobre afetos e mal-entendidos colaborativos numa comunidade indígena da puna de Jujuy, Argentina

Resumo: a partir de uma recuperação das reflexões metodológicas de Favret-Saada sobre a afetação, neste artigo, realizo uma descrição analítica das práticas de coletivização na comunidade aborígine de San Miguel de Colorados (noroeste da Argentina) e sua relação com outras formas de gestão coletiva. Os registros que comento estão baseados em minha experiência etnográfica como pesquisador e corresponsável de um projeto comunitário de edição de um livro com a história de Colorados. Essa situação levou a mim e às famílias da comunidade a articular modos de organizar o trabalho e as decisões por momentos muito diferentes, o que abriu espaço a reclamações e desencontros que vêm impactando de diversas formas o desenvolvimento do projeto. Seguindo as conceituações de Favret-Saada sobre a importância da comunicação involuntária e não representacional na práxis social — ou que Stengers chama sua dimensão pragmática —, descrevo como a população de Colorados e eu nos afetamos mútua, mas diferencialmente, como consequência do projeto do livro. O objetivo é explicitar as posições relacionais que mobilizam essas afetações, para mostrar que, na origem dessa comunicação involuntária, está um mal-entendido pragmático; um equívoco entre uma definição da ação coletiva como resultado do consenso representativo e outra em que as decisões comunitárias se formam por meio do alinhamento temporal — e muitas vezes conflitivo — das famílias e seus pontos de vista. Esta análise busca contribuir para a reflexão antropológica em contextos colaborativos a partir de considerar a implicação das teorias e práticas nativas da organização coletiva.

Palavras-chave: afetação, conflitos indígenas e territoriais, equívoco, estudos andinos, projetos comunitários.