Through a variety of studies in the emerging field of attentional studies this book examines and seeks alternatives to the current attention economy. Bringing together the work of leading scholars of ‘critical attention studies’ to reflect on issues such as techno-politics socio-politics and the politics of distraction it offers a new and multi-disciplinary conceptualization of attention that emphasizes the connections between attention and curiosity distraction decoloniality and care. Above all The Politics of Curiosity asks us to consider the nature and ambivalence of the curious forms of politics that might be taking shape in the shadow of our current attention economy. The “attention economy” has become a household name: we all know our attention is being harvested commodified and packaged to be sold to advertisers by capitalist platforms. We all complain about it; some of us dream of disconnection; others call to fight back. By focusing on attentional deficits and by reducing attention to being focused however the common view may miss wider stakes and more promising opportunities. This collective volume provides a new frame of analysis based on three displacements. First it relocates attentional issues within a triangulation that explores a continuum between attention distraction and curiosity. Second it invites us to investigate into the mental infrastructures that socially condition our perceptions and understandings of the world. Third it points towards emancipatory politics of curiosity to provide alternatives to the attention economy. Contributions range from pedagogy to media theory via digital studies epistemology sociology political philosophy literary history aesthetics film and dance studies. They gather some of the leading scholars who shaped the study of attention questioned the values of distraction and explored the potentials of curiosity over the recent years. They extend across nine countries four continents and seven languages to provide a multicultural approach to these debates. Together they help us understand how our current mental infrastructures have taken shape under specific regimes of power and authority in a world dominated by capital colonialism and patriarchy. But they also sketch what can be done to redeploy them around imperatives of respect and care – from a better awareness of our mental biases online behaviors and bodily movements to our collective capacity to restructure classroom interactions to launch alternative digital platforms to build democratic movements. The first platform for discussion of the politics of attention and curiosity – and an essential point of reference for future debate – this book will appeal to scholars of sociology politics and psychology. | The Politics of Curiosity Alternatives to the Attention Economy