Agamben's (Im)Potentiality and a Reconsideration of Creative Potential in Education Policy

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Seven
  In Roundtable Session: Foucault and Contemporary Theory (Table 16)

Abstract

This paper identifies a paradox in arts education policy whereby creativity is cast in oppositional ways. Creativity is an expansive concept in policy aspirations. However, it becomes a deployable tool for work-readiness and economic targets. To theorize this paradox and to argue for alternative framings of creative potential, the paper centers Giorgio Agamben's writings (1993, 1999) on (im)potentiality and actualization. I find that the concept of creative potential is limited or actualized in limited ways in policy outcomes around competitiveness and the diminution of craft. As a counterbalance, and to argue for alternative truths, I draw upon experiences of creatives in John-Steiner's (1997) Notebooks of the Mind. Here we glimpse an (im)potentiality, wherein immersion in craft and prolonged apprenticeships feature.

Author

• Kevin Gormley, Dublin City University
  Presenting Author