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Abstract
In this paper, I offer a very close reading of Grosz [2010. “Feminism, Materialism, and Freedom.” In New Materialisms: Ontology, Agency, and Politics, edited by Diana Coole and Samantha Frost, 139–157. Durham, NC: Duke University Press] thinking with Bergson in order to re-conceptualise freedom, matter, and the subject in new feminist materialisms. My central argument is that these free acts are mutually constituted in the intra-action [Barad 2007. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press] between human and non-human forces. The guiding questions for this paper are, ‘What if we locate freedom in doing, rather than being? How does associating freedom with acts, rather than attaching it to the subject, change how we think about ontology and agency?’ I use interview data from a research study with first-generation academic women in order to explore these concepts and put them to work.