Entangled lines of flight: and exploration into ‘clumping’ theory’

From Plato’s forms, through the Hobbesian view of the state of nature, to functionalist sociological notions of value consensus, Western Philosophy has contained what could be called a ‘strong drive toward central coherence’. Alongside this history, from Heraclitus to Bauman there have been philosophies highlighting fluid and transitional processes. This presentation looks to explore the theory of ‘clumping’ that was introduced at the Theorising Normalcy conference 2013. This theory seeks to represent what happens when Deleuzian lines of flight become entangled into ‘humans’ and wider social assemblages. When desire and assemblage become clumped and reified, this can be characterised by conformity, functionalism, normativity, masssification, and bureaucracy. Yet ‘clumping’ can also be used as a metaphor to describe neoliberal notions of the individual human social agent. This presentation will explore some key questions: who/what benefits from normative culture? To what extent can the damage and stigma of ‘outsiders’ be countered? Can creative lines of flight originate from ‘clumped’ social groups – i.e subcultural rebellion and solidarity? In conclusion, it is argued that the ‘revolution’ may well be a process and not an outcome, yet paradigm shifts are possible within the slow movements of ‘clumps’...