Lecture: 'Horizontal and vertical politics'

"A visual and anthropological approach" (Dr. Stefano Boni)
Part of the lecture series and collaborative interdisciplinary research project "Democratisation and Power Structures".
The presentation focuses on two spatial dichotomies to illustrate recurrent forms of political arrangements. The first dichotomy is visible in horizontal and vertical organizations: a horizontal and circular disposition of bodies is associated to equality of value and power dispersion among participants; on the contrary, the choreographic vertical elevation of leaders expresses inequality and power concentration. The second dichotomy, characteristic of vertical organizations, distinguishes those who stand above from those below. A visual and cross-cultural approach is used to illustrate the nuances that the organizational models present throughout human history (the visual material is available at Le figure del potere (eleuthera.it) ).