Paper short abstract:

In my paper, I will demonstrate which social, political and affective attachments to the NHS materialise today. The larger aim of the paper is to develop an ethnographic theory of affective biopolitics.

Paper long abstract:

Laurent Berlant argues that one attaches to the world not in the mode of either decision or emotion, but that one is thrown into "architectures of trust". How can one transpose her definition of attachment to the domain of health architecture and infrastructure in a historical moment where such architectures are profoundly transformed through privatisations and measures of austerity? In my paper, I will attempt to show how citizens in the UK attach to « their » trusted National Health Service (NHS) and defend it against privatisation and budget cuts. By articulating an analysis of the collective memory of the NHS as it is represented in contemporary films, TV series and theatre plays with an ethnographic investigation of current social movements and their affective politics, I will demonstrate which social, political and affective attachments to the NHS materialise today. The larger aim of the paper is to develop an ethnographic theory of affective biopolitics, to better understand what kind of health care different people desire today, for which reasons and with which means they intend to achieve it.