The Autonomy of the Social. Modulatory Sociality in Vitalist Theories

The social sphere has gotten a bad rap in contemporary affect theory, especially in the vitalist approaches following Gilles Deleuze: the social is largely seen as merely limiting the vital potentials of affect. In contrast, I develop a different understanding of the social in vitalist approaches, in which I draw on Deleuze and elaborate on some of his less frequently discussed concepts. This alternative understanding builds on the mutually enabling relation of affectivity and sociality, emphasizing the productive powers of sociality as well as those of affect. I avoid making affect too fluid and sociality too constraining with the concept of modulation, which emphasizes the reciprocal influences of becoming and organization. By proposing the autonomy of the social via the concept of modulation, I circumvent the problem of the passive and repressive social and outline the contours of an alternative modulatory sociality. In the end of the article, I make suggestions for a Deleuzian social theory.