The Politics of Becoming

Abstract

When we participate in political debate or protests, we are judged by how we look, which clothes we wear, by our skin colour, gender and body language. This results in exclusions and limits our freedom of expression. In this ECPR House Series lecture, Hans Asenbaum suggests the politics of becoming, which explores radical democratic acts of disidentification to counter this problem. The lecture brings together democratic, feminist, queer, anarchist, and new materialist assemblage theories to conceptualize the “fugitive self” in democratic engagement. Anonymity in masked protest, graffiti, and online debate interrupts our everyday identity assemblages. Such interruptions allow us to live our multiple selves. In the digital age, anonymity becomes an inherent part of everyday communication. As cyborgs our identities are disrupted and reassembled as digital communication devices enter into processes of self-making. We curate self-representations on social media, create avatars, share selfies and choose the skin colour of our emojis. Hans argues that democratic pluralism is not only a matter of institutional design but also about how we express our identities. Inner revolutions change our personal realities and plant a seed for democratic futures.