This book's main claim is that political art should not disregard questions of aesthetic reception and value. It argues that some neglected aspects of traditional aesthetics actually enhance the relationship between art and politics more than contemporary art theorists are keen to admit.

• Cover
• Aesthetics, Disinterestedness, and Effectiveness in Political Art
• Aesthetics, Disinterestedness, andEffectiveness inPolitical Art
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1
• Political Art
  • What Is Art?
  • Is All Art Political?
  • Art and Politics: Can They Mix? Should They Mix?
  • What Is Political in Art?
  • Propaganda Art versus Political-Critical Art: In Totalitarian Regimes and in Liberal Democracies
  • Propaganda Art versus Political Critical Art in Totalitarian Regimes
  • Political-Critical Art in Liberal Democracies
  • Notes
• Chapter 2
• Political-Critical Art and the Aesthetic
  • The Aesthetic
  • The Gap between the Aesthetic and Political in Art: “This Is too Political” versus “This Is too Aesthetic”
  • The Aesthetic and Political-Critical Art: Bridging the Gap
  • Aesthetically Meaningful Form: Political-Critical Art as a Matter of Form
  • Notes
• Chapter 3
• Revisiting Disinterestedness in Political Art’s Apprehension
  • Disinterestedness in Light of the Eighteenth Century and After
  • Is Disinterestedness Any Longer an Operational Term for Contemporary Aesthetics and Art Theory?
  • Cognitive Interests Cannot Be Ruled Out by “Aesthetic” Disinterestedness
  • Disinterestedness and Engagement: Reflective Contemplation
  • Is There Any Disinterestedness Suitable for Political-Critical Art’s Spectator?
  • Rethinking Disinterestedness in Political-Critical Art’s Appreciation
  • Notes
• Chapter 4
• Beauty and Political Art
  • Narrow Aesthetic Theories of Beauty
  • The Deliberate Avoidance of Beauty in Contemporary Political Art
  • Revisiting the Kantian Theory of Dependent Beauty
  • Functional Beauty: Beauty and Function in Political Art
  • Notes
• Chapter 5
• The Effectiveness Question
  • Political Art’s Effectiveness: What Does “Effective” Mean?
  • What Reasons are there for Denying or Affirming the Political Effectiveness of Political Art?
  • Effectiveness: Within an Institutional Setting or Outside of It?
  • To Whom Must Political-Critical Art Be Addressed?
  • The Means of Production and Distribution
  • Social Movements and Critical-Political Art
  • Notes
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author