ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 takes the theoretical framework developed in Chapter 2 to understand the relationship between speed and affect and applies it to the problem of ressentiment against speed. In doing so, it seeks to understand both the affects that give rise to ressentiment, as well as suggest responses to the reactionary political movements it can produce.
The first half of the chapter discusses how Spinoza’s account of affects can help us to understand the rise of ressentiment against speed. It does so in two sections. The first section looks at the temporal dimension of ressentiment against speed and the way in which an accelerating pace of events unsettles our desire for a stable teleological account of the future. The second looks at the spatial dimension, providing an opportunity to reintroduce the question of migration and mobility, using Spinoza’s account of empathy and identification to understand why certain migrant flows can give rise to violent, reactionary movements. The second half of the chapter then asks how we might respond to these reactionary movements and dispositions, looking at how Spinoza’s ethical theory provides us with tools for warding off ressentiment against speed both in ourselves and in society at large.
