Visibilities in Words, Visibilities on Bodies: Academic Sociopolitical Theories of Visibility and Militant Teachings From the Genoa Summit of July 2001

Abstract

Political theory and social sciences are increasingly drawing on the concepts of “visibility” and “invisibility.” However, these concepts are deeply incompatible, depending on whether visibility is understood as a regime of power (in theories of surveillance) or as a moral framework (in theories of recognition). This article demonstrates how antagonisms between these academic paradigms can be conceptualized as “struggles of visibilities,” revealing the incompatibilities inherent to these theoretical frameworks and the coexistence of heterogeneous visibility regimes in the sociopolitical world. The study further documents how confrontations between different paradigms in academic theory are expressed in militant discourses and political strategies. The investigation focuses on activist testimonies and visual tactics used during the G8 summit of July 2001 in Genoa, where militant visibilities were spoken in words and made visible on bodies by clothing esthetics in demonstrations and riots.