The sense of direct action

Extinction Rebellion activists blockade the A12 highway in The Hague, 28 January 2023, Peter Dejong/AP Photo

Abstract

Even though direct action is as popular as ever, we lack an understanding of the sense of this unique form of activism. Sceptics reject direct action as wildly idealistic, counterproductive, non-constructive. This article attempts to show that, strictly speaking, the criticism is correct in holding that direct action is practically irrational: the paradoxes of direct action are irresolvable for practical agents. But this is no reason to reject direct action at all. Instead, this article aims to argue that direct action’s sense should rather be construed as aesthetic. Borrowing a concept from Theodor W. Adorno’s aesthetics, I argue that direct actions are social monads: separated from the practices of daily life under capitalism, they nevertheless express the contradictions of that life in a way that, at the same time, holds out hope for an alternative future.

@article{Verdonschot2024,
	title = {The sense of direct action},
	author = {Verdonschot, Clinton Peter},
	year = {2024},
	journal = {Constellations},
	volume = {n/a},
	number = {n/a},
	pages = {},
	doi = {10.1111/1467-8675.12766},
}