Visibilities in Words, Visibilities on Bodies: Academic Sociopolitical Theories of Visibility and Militant Teachings From the Genoa Summit of July 2001

Abstract

Political theory and social sciences are increasingly drawing on the concepts of “visibility” and “invisibility.” However, these concepts are deeply incompatible, depending on whether visibility is understood as a regime of power (in theories of surveillance) or as a moral framework (in theories of recognition). This article demonstrates how antagonisms between these academic paradigms can be conceptualized as “struggles of visibilities,” revealing the incompatibilities inherent to these theoretical frameworks and the coexistence of heterogeneous visibility regimes in the sociopolitical world. The study further documents how confrontations between different paradigms in academic theory are expressed in militant discourses and political strategies. The investigation focuses on activist testimonies and visual tactics used during the G8 summit of July 2001 in Genoa, where militant visibilities were spoken in words and made visible on bodies by clothing esthetics in demonstrations and riots.

Representation struggles, visibility struggles

“…Their most remarkable present forms were born or perpetuated as the anti-globalist movement developed at the turn of the 2000s, like the Italian "tute bianche." 14 Named after the white suits worn by its militants, this group was formed during the 1990s, alongside the traditional Italian left-wing organisations, before it was disbanded in the wake of the violent riots that blotted the G8 summit held in Genoa in July 2001. The simplicity of this monochrome symbolic clothing is only an appearance: it shows a critical aesthetic representation of the political non-representation as perceived by its subjects.…”

“…The latter two cases incidentally illustrate the hypothetical existence of representation struggles between different aesthetic modes, in other words the possibility of their antagonistic co-construction in specific contexts. 27 As for the historical Luddite movement and the tactic of the black bloc, they are connected by certain critical categories, such as the concept of "civil Luddite movement" developed by political specialist George Katsiaficas to describe the urban destructions and practices of direct action by the German autonomists. 28 The second observation is of a conceptual order.…”

Luttes de représentation, luttes de visibilité

“…Elles sont également perceptibles dans les esthétiques militantes et l'iconographie politique contestataire. Leurs formes actuelles les plus marquantes sont apparues ou se sont pérennisées durant l'essor du mouvement altermondialiste au tournant des années 2000, à l'instar des « tute bianche » italiennes 14 . Ainsi dénommé en raison des combinaisons blanches revêtues par ses militant(e)s, ce groupe s'est constitué durant les années 1990 en marge des organisations traditionnelles de la gauche italienne, avant de se dissoudre à la suite des violentes émeutes qui ont émaillé le sommet du G8 organisé dans la ville de Gênes au mois de juillet 2001.…”

“…Cet article a permis d'identifier trois nuances : la simple représentation visuelle de la non-représentation politique (luddisme) ; la représentation visuelle critique de la non-représentation politique (tute bianche) ; la représentation visuelle critique de la représentation politique en tant que telle (black bloc). Les deux derniers cas illustrent accessoirement l'existence potentielle de luttes de représentation entre différents modes esthétiques, c'est-à-dire la possibilité de leur coconstruction antagoniste dans certains contextes spécifiques27 . Pour leur part, le luddisme historique et la tactique du black bloc sont reliés par certaines catégories critiques, tel le concept de « luddisme civil » forgé par le politiste George Katsiaficas pour qualifier les destructions urbaines et les usages de l'action directe par les autonomes allemands28 .Le deuxième constat est d'ordre conceptuel.…”