Returning to the three constituent parts of the word: 'good' (
eu
), 'place' (
topos
) and 'no' (
ou
); Bell reflects how these words might be thought 'nomadically' – via a constellation of theory that asserts the importance of affective relations and posits difference as ontologically prior to identity. The 'good' draws on Deleuze and Spinoza's affective ethical thought; 'place' from contemporary political geography; and the 'no' theorized via a reading of Ahmed's critique of happiness and Foucault's work on power.
Among the first to offer an extended reading of utopia through the lens of affect, whilst maintaining a critical stance
vis a vis
the recent 'affective turn' in the social sciences.