‘Not in my Name’: Deleuze, Zapatismo and the Critique of Representation1

Abstract

The paper focuses on the contemporary crisis of representation as expressed in political theory, and also more widely at the level of political institutions and processes. Whilst most responses to the ‘crisis’ attempt to refine representation in such manner as to include the previously excluded, the purpose of this paper is to think beyond or outside representation itself. The critique of the representative claim is advanced through the work of Gilles Deleuze, and in particular Difference and Repetition, one of the first works of contemporary theory to offer a sustained critique of the ontological basis of representation. As well as outlining the case presented there I seek to explore Deleuze and Guattari’s work more broadly to establish what a post-representative stance implies in terms of a politics. These assumptions are then mapped onto the efforts of the Zapatistas to delineate a ‘post-representative’ practice. I seek to show the similarity of concern between Deleuze’s critique and the work and self-understanding of Subcomandante Marcos, a leading Zapatista spokesperson. I conclude by suggesting that, not only is it possible to think outside representation (as Deleuze argues), but also to experiment with post-representative or ‘nomadic’ forms of interaction in the present.