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ABSTRACT
This paper examines the ‘anti-lockdown’ protests in the US beginning in April 2020 through the concepts of necropolitics (Mbembe) and microfascism (Deleuze and Guattari). The paper argues that these protests are examples of what it coins, necropopulism. What if the libertarian, hyper-individualistic, and reactionary populism we witness in these and other manifestations (e.g. mass shooters, alt-right street fights) are both fixated on their identity as a ‘people,’ yet simultaneously indifferent to their own persistence? Examining the anti-lockdown and anti-masking protests and their precursors, the paper argues that microfascism is infused with homi-suicidal aesthetics. The essay seeks to refine our analysis when it comes to the cultural (necro)politics of this ‘downsurgency,’ in which decline accelerates rapidly and might even be detached, ultimately, from its own demise. This analysis matters if we are to antagonize this necrotic force, not simply through a battle of ideas but by preventing a fascist social body from being fully activated and mobilized.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Further information
This Special Issue article has been comprehensively reviewed by the Special Issue editors, Associate Professor Ted Striphas and Professor John Nguyet Erni.
Notes
1 Others have extended Mbembe’s concept to contemporary practices of femicide (Wright Citation2011, Threadcraft Citation2017) or offered similar ones: necroculture (Thorpe Citation2016), political necrophilism (Fromm Citation1973, Daly Citation1978, Castronovo Citation2001), necrocapitalism (Banerjee Citation2008) and the necrocene (McBrien Citation2016). Together, this cluster highlights how the homi-suicide dynamic has been synthesized across multiple levels (interpersonal, cultural, planetary, and economic).
2 ‘Make America Great Again,’ the slogan from Trump’s first presidential campaign.
3 Let’s not forget that the rise of the Confederacy myth originated in a graveyard ritual. The remaining statues and monuments act as reminders but also as marble zombies (the standing dead) while the neo-confederates of today ride with ghosts.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Jack Bratich
Jack Z. Bratich is an associate professor in the journalism and media studies department at Rutgers University, USA. He takes a critical approach to the intersection of popular culture and political culture. His work applies autonomist social theory to such topics as craft media, reality television, social movement media, and the cultural politics of war. He is author of Conspiracy Panics: Political Rationality and Popular Culture and co-editor of Foucault, Cultural Studies, and Governmentality. He is currently working on a book on necropolitics and culture called “On Microfascism: Death, Genderm and War” (Common Notions Press).