Paper short abstract:

I explore the assumptions and potentials for resistance vis-a-vis what constitutes ‘good health’ which I define as a socially produced state of idealised expectations and patterns of consumption dominated by gendered and technophilic knowledge regimes that reproduce coercive Western standards of health.

Paper long abstract:

In this talk, I explore the expressed assumptions, values, and modes of resistance with respect to what constitutes ‘good health’ which I define as a socially produced state of idealized expectations, performances, embodiments, and patterns of consumption dominated by gendered and technophilic knowledge regimes that reproduce regimented and coercive Western standards of health and beauty. I begin with an examination of ‘good health’ in relation to medical and socio-cultural performance in which expectations around sickness and wellness are articulated and enacted. I do so in light of social expectations and trends (i.e. through the lens of clean eating), the patient’s perspective, neoliberalism, fatness and affect. Also considered is the so-called ‘obesity epidemic’ and its place in normative health practices as well as some prospective alternatives conceptions of health rooted in more capacious theories of embodiment and bodily integrity. Particular attention is paid to normative bodies, reductionist whiteness, and the social determinants of ill health. I illustrate this by drawing on examples of social movements that successfully challenge this hegemonic definition.

Paper short abstract:

The public representation of South Africa‘s long history of protest is closely tied to bodily performances. This paper sheds light on how the portrayal of corporeal street protests as imaginary bodies in visual arts changes the horizon of possibilities, space and time of activism.

Paper long abstract:

The long history of South African protest is closely tied to bodily performances such as the Toyi-toyi dance that has been widely represented as a corporeal way of resisting bodies in movement. By the stomping of feet and chanting of political songs and rallying cries, the Toyi-toyi creates a particular atmosphere that is often referred to as powerful and intimidating. Depicted in the media as South Africa‘s „12th language“ or activist‘s „weapon“ against police violence, the Toyi-toyi is widely performed to articulate social grievances.

This paper focuses on pictured representations of protest performances on walls and canvases. It inquires how an artistic transfer from corporeal to imaginary bodies alters the set of political capabilities and affordances of activism. By transgressing the limits of bounded time and habitual space of street protests, the artistic uptake of bodily performances adopts political possibilities in a different way. Imaginary bodies in visual arts work as memories, interpretations and inventions of past and future protests. They might disrupt visual orders in urban landscapes and/or fit in „legitimate“ exhibition venues and thereby address and affect a different, at times unexpected audience.

Whereas imaginative bodies exceed the tangible situation of street protest, they come with changed contingencies such as the absence of collective voices, motions and rhythms. The artistic representation of Toyi-toyi prompts questions about the „right“ place for and the appropriate form of protest and, thus, gives rise to contested ideas on the normative dimension of bodies in movement.

Paper short abstract:

Mexico City cycloactivists demand mobility and environmental justice by cycling on city streets and inviting others to join them. The increased number of bodies-on-bicycles thus conveys political messages in their daily commutes and in the creative interventions they perform in public spaces.

Paper long abstract:

Cycling in Mexico City is a dangerous affair. But it is less so now than it used to be. Over the last two decades, a relatively small number of cycloactivists has managed to convince local government authorities to build infrastructures and pass new regulations for cyclists. The strategy these activists have followed includes alliances with international non-governmental organizations and with other activists from around the world, as well as collaboration with foreign development aid agencies and financial institutions, especially regarding policies towards sustainable mobility. While these relations have provided activists with technical knowledge, policymaking knowhow, and an awareness of similar situations elsewhere in the planet, the local activist scene has managed to combine these competencies with a shared sense of urgency among a growing number of urban dwellers. They have done this by combining various ways of inviting more people to cycle on a regular basis. Weekly night rides, weekend leisure rides, support schemes to help initiate in cyclo-commutes, and other measures, have ensured that more people experience cycling and take it up as part of their routine. This is a phenomenological strategy. Cycloactivists show by doing, and seek to help others experience the city anew on two wheels. They also carry out creative interventions in the public sphere that include rule-breaking, in order to draw attention to ongoing mobility and environmental injustices in the city. They use their own bodies-on-bicycles as symbols of vulnerability to show that existing rules tend to be unjust, and need changing.