The Politics of Becoming: Anonymity and Democracy in the Digital Age

Session Submission Type: Author meet critics

Session Description

Chair: Azucena Morán
Author: Dr Hans Asenbaum
Critics: Prof. Anne Phillips (LSE), Assoc. Prof. Michaele Ferguson (University of Colorado), Asst. Prof. Jennifer Forestal (Loyola University Chicago), Prof. Mark Warren (University of British Columbia)

When we participate in political debates 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. The Politics of Becoming explores radical democratic acts of disidentification to counter this problem. It 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. When material objects such as masks, voting booths or pen and paper enter our identity assemblages, this momentarily reconfigures who we are, how we express ourselves, and what we say. Such interruptions allow us to live our multiple selves. In the digital age, anonymity becomes an inherent part of everyday communication. Through our smart devices, we express our selves differently. 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.

The Politics of Becoming encourages us to engage in a revolution of the self. 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. By coming together in minipublics, participatory budgets or street protests, we create a democratic microverse – a prefigurative constellation that demonstrates what the future of democracy could look like. The democratic microverse functions as a seed for more democratic and sustainable futures.

However, pursuing a politics of becoming comes with several challenges. What dangers lie in recommendations to hide identity? Does anonymity conceal diversity? How does the politics of becoming relate to the feminist politics of presence? How can accountability and democratic legitimacy be ensured? How does self-transformation relate to larger societal transformations? This panel brings together leading voices in the field of democratic theory and identity to discuss the relevance and dangers of self-transformation and identity change in democratic politics today.

Sub Unit

• Related Groups / Critical Policy Studies

Chair

• Azucena Moran Tobar Research Institute for Sustainability

Presenters

• Hans Asenbaum University of Canberra

• Anne Phillips London School of Economics

• Michaele L. Ferguson University of Colorado, Boulder

• Jennifer Forestal Loyola University, Chicago

• Mark E. Warren University of British Columbia