The Matter of Affect in the Quantum Universe.

Keywords: Quantum International Relations; Critical Theory; Affect Theory; International Ethics EN Quantum International Relations Critical Theory Affect Theory International Ethics 151 161 11 02/06/21 20200901 NES 200901 In I Ontological Entanglements i , Laura Zanotti[3] offers a thought-provoking reorientation of International Relations (IR) by thinking through the political relevance of ontological starting points, that is to say, the ways we imagine how the world is, how we fit in it, and how "things" relate to one another.[4] Zanotti not only offers us alternative conceptualisations of who we are and how we relate to the world,[5] but also investigates how these ontological starting points have a bearing on the ways we formulate political agency as well as validate ethical and political decisions. Zanotti contends that the circulation of emotions 'contribute[s] to the opening and foreclosing of possibilities of materialization of political energy'.[31] Here, it seems that Zanotti starts to perceive a theoretical affinity between Barad's framework of intra-agential agency and the study of emotions in IR. But, differently from Zanotti, Massumi theorises ethics as a mode of becoming towards affect in a state of constant dynamic change and uncertainty. This affective form of ethics as developed by Massumi might enrich and expand Zanotti's practice-oriented understanding of ethics and her understanding of how "we are of the world". [Extracted from the article]