The politics of becoming: Disidentification as radical democratic practice

Abstract

<jats:p> Current radical democratic politics is characterized by new participatory spaces for citizens’ engagement, which aim at facilitating the democratic ideals of freedom and equality. These spaces are, however, situated in the context of deep societal inequalities. Modes of discrimination are carried over into participatory interaction. The democratic subject is judged by its physically embodied appearance, which replicates external hierarchies and impedes the freedom of self-expression. To tackle this problem, this article seeks to identify ways to increase the freedom of the subject to explore its multiple self. Understanding the self as inherently fugitive, the article investigates participatory, deliberative and agonistic concepts of self-transformation. As all of them appear limited, it introduces a transformative perspective in democratic thought. Enriching the transformative perspective with queer and gender theory, the article generates the concept of a politics of becoming, which, through radical democratic practices of disidentification, advances the freedom of the subject to change. </jats:p>

Access Under Duress

“…No system can lead to transformation, Nelimarkka further argues, without being connected to the larger sociopolitical context of change. To this end, Asad's vision of prefigurative design for civic engagement focuses far more on the tools and spaces created by activists to scaffold their own radical work outside the realm of government decision-makers [4].…”

“…In a recent analysis of democratic approaches in the context of COVID-19 era political unrest, political scientist Hans Asenbaum describes how deliberative and agonist approaches fail to address inequity, and instead turns to transformative perspectives [4]. Borrowing from queer and feminist theories of performance, Asenbaum uses transformative democracy to understand presence as a process of political creation [4]. Political theorist Amanda Machin speaks to the importance of physical embodiment, with bodies playing an active role in rupturing a dominant order and transforming collective identities [46].…”

“…Political theorist Amanda Machin speaks to the importance of physical embodiment, with bodies playing an active role in rupturing a dominant order and transforming collective identities [46]. Asenbaum connects "identification" as a tool of state control [63]to the power of physical presence and performance in political spaces as means to shatter assigned identities [4]. This rejection of assigned identities opens transformative paths to new or recoded identities of collectivity and multitude [4].…”

“…Asenbaum connects "identification" as a tool of state control [63]to the power of physical presence and performance in political spaces as means to shatter assigned identities [4]. This rejection of assigned identities opens transformative paths to new or recoded identities of collectivity and multitude [4]. Further, tools such as storytelling or testimony from historically under resourced communities-for example, Black, indigenous, immigrant, and gender-nonconforming people-provide counterpoints to status-quo decisionmaking [14].…”

More than Words: A Multidimensional Approach to Deliberative Democracy

“…Bodies are continuously in motion. They are simultaneously deliberating agents and products of deliberation in a politics of becoming (Asenbaum, 2020b). This can be illustrated by the performative acts of SlutWalks.…”