Notes on Atmosphere

What difference does an atmosphere make to an environment, a situation, or a horizon of possible action? If getting a handle on this question is tricky, it is in no small part because atmosphere itself names something elusive and vague: What kind of being does it have? And where exactly does it reside? Deriving from the Greek atmos, vapor or steam, combined with sphaira, ball or globe, in its basic sense the word refers to the envelope of gas surrounding the earth or any other celestial body.1 Used figuratively, it has a much wider reach, indicating the characteristic tone or pervading mood of a surrounding environment or object. Its referent varies in ontology, but in ordinary speech we attribute atmospheres to a variety of things, including spaces, situations, individuals, societies, historical epochs, objects, and artworks.2 But for all their seeming haziness, atmospheres have real effects. They alter the kinds of things that can be said in a space, the kinds of actions that are thinkable, and the modes of sociality that are possible, and I want to suggest that we have still yet to fully recognize and attend to their importance as social and political phenomena of everyday life. A persistent atmosphere of hostility can cause someone