Portal power and thalassic imagination

Abstract

[Extract] Hierarchies, networks, and navigations are fundamental social-historical structures. Consider for a moment this typology as it applies to the question of governance. Historically, the most persistent model of governance has been hierarchy. Even today - when hierarchy is rhetorically downplayed in the name of social equality - it remains the most common type of rule. It appears in many guises. Most people find their lives caught up in one or other familial, patrimonial, bureaucratic, clerical, corporate, or party hierarchy.