Lifestyle Politics and Radical Activism

Description

Attempts by people to enact their political beliefs in their daily lives have become commonplace in contemporary US culture, in spheres ranging from shopping habits to romantic attachments. This groundbreaking book examines how collective social movements have cultivated individual practices of “lifestyle politics” as part of their strategies of resistance, and the tensions they must navigate in doing so. Drawing on feminism and other movements that claim that “the personal is political,” the book explores how radical anarchist activists position their own lifestyles within projects of resistance. Various lifestyle practices, from consumption to personal style to sexual relationships, are studied to address how identity and cultural practices can be used as tools of political dissent. An accessible and provocative text, Lifestyle Politics and Radical Activism blends theory with empirical materials to highlight issues that are important not only to anarchists, but also to anyone struggling for social change. This unique analysis will contribute to the development of anarchist theory and practice and will appeal to anyone interested in political activism and social movements. Cover Half-title Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Introduction Definitions: Lifestyle, lifestyle politics, lifestyle activism, and lifestylism The culture of contemporary US anarchism Chapter 2 The anti-consumption lifestyle: The cultural work of activist practices Practices of anti-consumption Typology of anti-consumption motivations Applying the typology Chapter 3 “I’m not joining your world”: Performing political dissent through spectacular self-presentation The “generic anarchist suit” Style as self-construction through self-representation Style as distinction and boundary Style as tactical critique and propaganda Chapter 4 “You gotta check yourself”: Lifestyle as a site of identification and discipline Defining and performing anarchist identity Disclaiming anarchist identity Social identities, discipline, and accountability Policing the boundaries of anarchist identity Lifestyle and the re-centering of privileged subjects Ironic sincerity Chapter 5 Strategic sexuality: Polyamory, queer self-identification, and consent-seeking as activist interventions Polyamory Queer self-identification Subcultural norms of sexuality Consent-seeking Identification as contestation A diversity of sexual tactics? Chapter 6 Bridging the chasm: The contradictions of radical lifestyle politics in neoliberal context The discourse around lifestyle anarchism Individualism and collectivism Decentralized power and resistance Mechanisms of prefiguration Subcultures and movements Conclusion: Learning from lifestyle anarchists Notes References Index