Abstract
This article explores openings for re-subjectification in a case of a house squat for free culture. Combining Lacanian discourse theory and the ‘ontology of political possibilities’, I explore how political subjectivities might (trans)form during such a process. Through interviews with participating squatters, the analysis suggests that this theoretical and methodological framing can capture moments of re-subjectification that are often overlooked. Via the performance of democratic values, a community knowledge became embodied in the subjects, which arguably carries the possibility of a redirection of desire, away from individualism and towards cultivating their political subjects towards communality. The squat can be read as a process of cultivating a shared identification with, and desire for, commonality, democracy and the possibility of a different relationship with the participants’ political lives. This analysis thus contribute to acknowledging openings for re-subjectification in cases that at first glance are dismissed as failures.
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Lauri, J. Social movements, squatting and communality: ethical practices and re-subjectification processes. Subjectivity 12, 154–170 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41286-019-00067-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41286-019-00067-8