A Critical Analysis of What is Assemblage by Thomas Nail
Choose one of the set readings in this unit of study. Write (i) an introduction; (ii) an analysis of three texts that influenced this text; (iii) an analysis of the influence that this text has had on three other specified texts; and (iv) a conclusion.
All scholarly work draws on the influence of prior concepts, research and arguments. It affirms or rejects existing paradigms as well as offering new evidence and making new claims and analyses. Scholarly books and articles have influence on communities of readers. Their arguments and research change how people think. Sometimes they create controversy or outrage. Sometimes they change how a problem is conceived.
In this assignment, your analysis should identify three documented references of each of these types: the influences on the text from the readings (which you can find in the list of references), and the influence of the article on others (which you can identify through records of citations in Google Scholar and other databases).
Choose three influences cited within the reading, and three later texts that have cited this reading.
(i) Look for citations within the article that are important to the argument. Find the original sources of three, and read enough to get a sense of their argument, style and content. Read around the topic to get a sense of where the reading fits into a scholarly community. Write a concise analysis of how each of the three cited articles informed the argument in the reading.
(ii) Find three works that cite your reading. Search for citations of your article or book using Google Scholar. Find the most salient three articles or books, and analyse how each uses the assigned piece. How does the author use the cited work in their own argument? Some works are not cited much: if so, choose another article/chapter. If it's a book chapter you can refer to pieces that cite the book, if appropriate. Develop an argument about the significance of this reading within the broader tradition of themes in technocultural analysis. You're working in the genre of a review article, so try to evaluate key themes that are sustained through all 7 articles you're using.
Note that the word count for this assignment is very tight. You only have a paragraph for each of the 7 articles. Please use APA v6 or v7 referencing.
A Critical Analysis of What is Assemblage by Thomas Nail:
Exploring Its Connections with Previous Research and Influence on Subsequent Studies
Introduction
The main article for this essay is What is an Assemblage? Authored by Thomas Nail and published in the SubStance journal. The author explores the concept of assemblage which was introduced by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. He starts by explaining how the concept is drawn from French word agencement as opposed to English’ definition of the word. The author, Nail, draws from different authors makes a case that assemblage amounts to a full theory and should be treated as such. He draws from other philosophers i.e Henri Bergson and Gilbert Simondon to come up with a new definition of assemblage. He argues that the assemblage as coined by Deleuze and Guattari qualifies to be treated as a theory and tried to make the case for it. Nail defines assemblage as a collection of self-organizing systems that are characterized by their constant becoming rather than fixed being. He argues that assemblage refers to ways in which heterogenous elements come together to form a functioning whole. Nail argues that assemblages are not simply collections of individual elements, but rather dynamic systems that emerge from the interactions between these elements. Nail also differentiates the different types of assemblages. He defines stratified assemblages as those structures that have a dominant element i.e. state of corporation. He defines smooth assemblages as the structures that are more fluid. He argues that by treating assemblage as a theory, it can provide new insights into political structures and introduce a new way of looking at power and resistance. He argues that resistance or problems can stem from anywhere. Concisely, Nail’s article provides important and deeply insightful exploration to the concept of assemblage and he draws heavily from philosophy and theoretical perspectives to develop the new definition and application of assemblage.
Connections with Previous Research
One of the sources Nail used and drew heavily is a book by Manuel DeLanda titled A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity. DeLanda in this book stresses a few things that Nail uses. First, he argues that assemblages should be thought to be in a constant flux and they are dynamic in that they change over time as new elements are added or removed. He alluded this definition that social phenomena can be thought as assemblages of individual elements such as people or institutions. Thus, DeLanda seems to tie the idea of assemblage to dynamism and uses it to explain its relevance to social phenomena. Secondly, DeLanda introduced the idea of emergence. He agues that emergence is the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. He alludes that thinking of assemblages as sum of individual elements is wrong, but rather then come together to form a bigger new property through their individual behaviour and interactions. The same way a collection of spare parts to a car is not a car, but the assembly of the entire vehicle in the right manner leads to a new product, a car. Therefore, he suggests that social phenomena should not be considered as set of individual behaviour but as consider the new emergent phenomena out of it to gain a deepened understanding of the phenomena. Additionally, DeLanda, alluded that assemblages are important tools to understand the complex relationship of power and resistance especially in politics and social change.
Nail also draws from Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari book: What is Philosophy? Deleuze and Guattari are credited to coining the term assemblage and Nail draws from their publications. In What is Philosophy, Deleuze and Guattari seek to redefine the nature and purpose of philocophy. Though the coverage of assemblage in this book is limited, it helps show how the authors define and perceive the term. This book mainly focuses on new modernist definition of philosophy arguing that it is not an academic discipline but rather a creative and practical activity that leads to invention of new concepts and exploration of new ideas. The authors question the traditional view of philosophy and they emphasize on the importance of treating it in the context of other disciplines like politics, art and science. The authors argue that philosophy is not an isolated activity but it is linked to social and cultural contexts. The book seeks to convince the reader to rethink what philosophy means and the authors offer a new perspective on nature of function of it in modern times.
One of the other sources used by Nail is Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's book titled "A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia". It is the publication where the authors first coined assemblage and it has extensive definition and literature on the subject. Nail used this source to understand how the pioneers of the term view, describe, define and use assemblage. The book is constructed around a phenomenon of ‘plateaus’ where ...