Troubled Subjectivities, Elusive Solidarities – Feminist Art Activism as Micropolitical Resistance

Abstract

It is widely held by leftist scholars (Silvia Federici, Jorge Alemán and Suely Rolnik among others) that neoliberal capitalism has extended beyond the purely economic to colonize all aspects of life, including the psychological, effectively producing what is termed a neoliberal subjectivity characterized by, among other things, persistent denial and inaction in the face of threats brought on by rapacious capitalist practices, not only to prosperity but also to actual human survival. This article will consider a psychoanalytical perspective on how capitalism shapes the neoliberal subject, accounting for why the subject is numb to the other and to solidarity. It will then go on to explore how to resolve this numbness from a feminist perspective, through a combination of macropolitical and micropolitical approaches. This point is illustrated through a focus on the art and political activism of Bolivian feminist group Mujeres Creando.