Assemblage Thinking and Transnational/ Translocal Social Movements of the 2010s (Video Presentation)

• Published in: Studies in social justice Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 20
• Main Authors: Conway, Janet M., Alvarez, Sonia E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Windsor Centre for Studies in Social Justice 01-01-2018; Brock University
• Subjects: Activism; Decolonization; Demonstrations & protests; Feminism; Participation; Social activism; Social movements; Transnationalism
• ISSN: 1911-4788; 1911-4788
• DOI: 10.26522/ssj.v12i1.1820

“Assemblage Thinking and Transnational/Translocal Social Movements of the 2010s” presents keynote addresses by feminist social movement scholars, Janet Conway and Sonia Alvarez. Conway introduces assemblage thinking as an alternative approach to making sense of the post-2010 global movement ensemble. Using the example of Occupy Wall Street, she proposes combining assemblage thinking with decolonial critique to re-read Occupy through its Indigenous interlocutors as occupying Indigenous land. Alvarez considers the utility of assemblage to think about activism, protest, and participation in contemporary forms of transnational and translocal feminism. She proposes the concept “discursive fields of action” as an alternative to “social movement” in light of Afro-Brazilian feminism and the Brazilian Slutwalk. This video compilation concludes with a series of short interventions by Alvarez, Rinaldo Walcott, Öznur Karakas, Lee Cormie and Glen Coulthard assessing the utility of assemblage thinking.