Notes toward a performative theory of assembly

Judith Butler elucidates dynamics of public assembly under prevailing economic and political conditions, analyzing what they signify and how. Understanding assemblies as plural forms of performative action, Butler extends her theory of performativity to argue that precarity-the destruction of conditions of livability-has been a galvanizing force and theme in today's highly visible protests. Butler broadens theory of performativity beyond speech acts to include concerted actions of body. Assemblies of physical bodies have an expressive dimension that cannot be reduced to speech, for very fact of gathering says something without always relying on speech. Drawing on Hannah Arendt's view of action, yet revising…