Revolt, activism and the posthuman university assemblage

Abstract

Revolt is a vital and transformative process of evolution and re-negotiation, Kristeva says, and, in the face of global/local, political, worldly and ecological crises, it is critical. This paper utilises the notion of revolt as an ongoing imperative to re-imagine activism through a human–posthuman framing. It conceptualises the university as a living, throbbing assemblage of beings, policies and practices that are closely and often indiscernibly entangled. In this assemblage COVID-19 is posited as an illustration of human and more-than-human life and uncertainty to provoke re-readings and reorientations towards policies and practices. Using revolt to refocus activisms in the university, the paper argues, blurs not only the human and nonhuman but also the policy–practice boundaries.