Abstract
Breathing and politics are not usually considered relevant to one another. Is it
therefore possible to engage with breathing as a force of social justice? What kinds
of atmospheres can corpomaterial dynamics of breathing help envision for the
possibility for individuals and social groups to live breathable lives?
It is my aspiration here to argue that politics can take place not only in
terms of governance, social movements, identity politics, and biopolitics but also
in terms of quotidian bodily actions—such as breathing. By working with breath
as a force that is common to all living and breathing (in this chapter, human)
beings yet differential in its enactments, I propose a rethinking of politics in which
corpomaterial actions matter—politics not based on universalizing, homogenizing,
or essentializing understandings of embodiment or subjectivity but conceptualized and enacted intersectionally in their specific situatedness and dispersal in
the individual and structural dynamics of power relations. This chapter of the
volume, therefore, explores the possibility of such politics in relation to the quotidian practices of breathing
therefore possible to engage with breathing as a force of social justice? What kinds
of atmospheres can corpomaterial dynamics of breathing help envision for the
possibility for individuals and social groups to live breathable lives?
It is my aspiration here to argue that politics can take place not only in
terms of governance, social movements, identity politics, and biopolitics but also
in terms of quotidian bodily actions—such as breathing. By working with breath
as a force that is common to all living and breathing (in this chapter, human)
beings yet differential in its enactments, I propose a rethinking of politics in which
corpomaterial actions matter—politics not based on universalizing, homogenizing,
or essentializing understandings of embodiment or subjectivity but conceptualized and enacted intersectionally in their specific situatedness and dispersal in
the individual and structural dynamics of power relations. This chapter of the
volume, therefore, explores the possibility of such politics in relation to the quotidian practices of breathing
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Atmospheres of Breathing |
| Subtitle of host publication | The Respiratory Questions Of Philosophy |
| Editors | Lenart Škof, Petri Brendtson |
| Publisher | Suny Press |
| Pages | 247-260 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-1-4384-6973-7 |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |