Power and the problem of composition

Abstract

To accept the constitutive power of assemblages as a composition of forces rather than a form, is to accept that the scale, composition and temporality of ‘the thing' in question are not pre-given, but are determined by ‘the thing' by going to the limits of its power. Divergent approaches in assemblage thinking differ in terms of how they understand power relations. I propose a point of commonality between approaches drawing on Spinoza's distinction between potentia and potere, and Deleuze and Guattari's (2000) distinction between legitimate and illegitimate forms of synthesis. This doubled concept of power (and of synthesis) provides a basis for distinguishing between oppressive and emancipatory assemblages.