Drift Politics

The chapter begins by exploring the experiential politics of drift. Considering concepts and practices like the flâneur and the Situationist dérive , the chapter argues that drift can produce an expanding realm of experiential politics that incorporates a critical, comparative exteriority. Given this, drifters are able—or are forced—to see beyond the certainty of any one situation. The chapter then outlines a collective politics of drift by considering such groups as Critical Mass, Food Not Bombs, and PublicAdCampaign, noting their success in creating a culture and cultural politics of drift. Next, the collective experience of “precarity” and the work of those who organize around this concept are explored, along with the politics of squatters, freelancers, and Occupy activists. The chapter concludes with a consideration of swarming as a form of collective drift politics.

Experiential learning · Political science · Politics · Realm · Sociology · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law