Term
Imperative Gap
used in 27 texts across the archive
“There is always an “imperative gap” between the command issued and the command obeyed—no order can be obeyed without at least some degree of discretion being exercised. The practice of commanding is both to minimize this gap and to fill it with preceding exemplars, previous decisions, and previous exercises of discretion which can be translated for current purposes, along with an entire sensory and investigatory apparatus to follow up on and therefore inform obedience to the imperative.”
In use
“The work of closing the imperative gap is conducted in “disciplinary spaces,” which are retrievals of the originary scene/event.”
“Now, I can say that the imperative gap is closed to the extent that each of us contributes to singularized succession in perpetuity.”
“One’s operationalization of the imperative gap is not an individual matter but derivative of one’s position within the stack of scenes—you can only start with the commands it is within your power to work with, and with whatever clarity the chain of imperatives they issue from is inscribed upon those aimed at you.”
Key texts