Engaging in Affective Practices

The paper presents how the merging of the theoretical concepts ‘Affect’ and ‘Power’ faces methodological and ethical challenges when entangled in teachers’ and pupils’ practice. Based on a study of pedagogical methods aiming to shape certain affective relations and avoid conflicts in Danish primary schools, the paper develops an affective-power approach drawing on Foucault’s notion of power and Whetherell’s conceptualisation of affect. The approach captures the affective dimension of governing and resistance in interactional practice that engages teachers and pupils. This enables a research focus on the production and exchange of affects, but simultaneously affects the field, thereby raising new methodological as well as ethical questions of how to conduct the approach. As an example, the paper shows, how conflictual situations between teacher and pupil become highly emotional in the exchange of affects. Witnessing tense conflict situations taking place I as a researcher get affected as well, and in turn affect the practice myself. Because, both the teacher, pupil, and I are well aware of my research focus on power and affect, being observed in conflictual situations contributes to pervasive shame and insecurity. The affective-power approach then becomes an affective-power practice influencing the displays of affect. At the same time, my experience of shame and insecurity signifies the affects at play, thereby contributing to the empirical account of the situational affective production. The paper contributes to the conference’s discussion of theoretical psychology by showing how the affective-power approach affects