The Politics of Affect Spinoza in the Work of Negri and Deleuze Susan Ruddick Abstract How do we fashion a new political imaginary from fragmentary, diffuse and often antagonistic subjects, who may be united in principle against the exi- gencies of capitalism but diverge in practice, in terms of the sites, strategies and specific natures of their own oppression? To address this question I trace the dissonance between the approaches of Antonio Negri and Gilles Deleuze back to their divergent mobilizations of Spinoza’s affect and the role it plays in the ungrounding and reconstitution of the social body. This dissonance reveals a divergence in their projects, the way these political pro jects emerge as counter-actualizations, the means by which they are expressed, and the necessity (or not) of a particular kind of historical subject to their realization. Most significantly, it speaks to how we might engage difference and alterity within our own political pro jects, our collective creations. I conclude with a focus on the productive possibilities provided by Deleuze’s writings on the scream, as a vehicle to uncover new terrains of struggle and new possibilities for collectivity. Key words affect j Deleuze j Negri j politics j Spinoza The emotions of hatred, anger, envy, etc., considered in themselves, follow from the same necessity and virtue of Nature as all other particular things. Consequently, they recognize certain causes by which they are understood and they have certain properties which are , equally deserving of our investigation asthepropertiesofanyotherthing,whosemerecontemplationa¡orduspleasure . (Spinoza, Ethics III, Preface) What forces does this new bring to bear on thought, from what central bad nature and ill will does it spring ... ? Something in the world forces us j Theory, Culture & Society 2010 (SAGE, Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, and Singapore), Vol. 27(4): 21^45 DOI: 10.1177/0263276410372235