talkGiuseppe ArmogidaThe alliance of bodies. Performance and public space

An event that attempts to intertwine artistic performance with a theme that lies at the heart of Judith Butler’s reflection: the alliance of bodies in public space.

“What can a body do?” asked Deleuze in his lectures on Spinoza. Starting from Deleuze’s question, it is argued that bodies are not isolated entities but living relations. This approach emphasises the importance of collective performativity, which differs from individual performance and manifests itself through coordinated actions. These actions embody forms of popular sovereignty that challenge the dominant individualistic ethos, creating a ‘plurality’ that emerges from the alliance of bodies in a contested public space. The concerted praxis of these bodies disrupts power structures, inaugurating a new ‘partition of feeling’ that opens universalism to marginalised subjects.