LE3 .A278 2020

2020

Brittain, James

Acadia University

Master of Arts

Masters

Social and Political Thought

Politics

Anarchism is often referred to as a reaction to and against the State. Seldom is it regarded as an expressive and localized form of politics within the micropolitics of communities. This thesis offers an alternative understanding of anarchism that proposes that anarchist principles and direct actionism hold the capacity to shape alternative ideas surrounding anarchist thought today . It explores the question: how can anarchism be understood as a performative theory of action located in the intimacies of the here and now? Beginning with a review of nearly two hundred years of anarchist thought, this thesis explores how anarchism may be theorized as a performative process. Through the works of Judith Butler, John Holloway and Ursula K. Le Guin’s science fiction novel The Dispossessed, the thesis proposes that anarchism can be read as a performative process of ‘doing;’ constantly subverting norms and space to create liveable conditions on a micropolitical scale.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3537