Le corps protestataire aujourd'hui : une économie de la menace et de la présence

Abstract

The protesting body today: an economy of threat and presence Recent work on demonstrational action points in many ways to an important euphemization and self-control of physical violence today. To what extent could it then nourish an interpretation of protester’s manners in terms of an outbreak of civilization? This lead, though, should not bring one to disembody demonstrations too quickly, for fear one misses their specificity: that of political actions which intensely exploit body language. Taking into account this dimension of demonstrational action helps underline the complexity of the use of physical violence within a semiotic of threat which varies from one group of demonstrators to the other and, thus, could contribute to their characterization. This also, more generally, helps emphasize the numerous polemical qualities of sheer physical presence. Lastly, it enables one to rethink, in a more subtle way, the strategic dimension of demonstrations.