Dis/Identification: as a general tendency in the readings, for there to be politics, there needs to be an us and a them. The various forms of identification coalesce large populations into electoral groups: these can be either agonistic or antagonistic, depending on how closed the us is and how dangerous or undesirable the them is conceived. I add the dis- prefix to allude to José Esteban Muñoz’s concept of disidentification to underscore how marginalized populations take hegemonic symbols and queer them to their will and for their own benefit and/or transgression.
Spectatorship: politics, like theater and performance, would not be possible without a spectator. Active versus passive spectatorship seems to be a critical point of influence, like all audiences can be. Understanding what politicians want of their spectators, therefore, is crucial.
Power: it has been defined and re-defined in so many ways. Where does power really reside, in what instances, under what conditions? How does power shift from the head of state to the assembling populations? How can popular power be cemented in the same way state governments centralize power through institutions?
Resistance: Balibar defines resistance as the limit to power, that is, the force which resists power at its margins. However, what if power resides in the people: is government the resistance? I believe we should define resistance more thoroughly if we are to consider power as an indispensable concept.
Emancipation: the great take-away from modern liberal politics. Though a vast concept, we should be able to come up with a working definition for emancipation that encompasses the concept both as an embodied practice and as an inalienable right.
Both videos (the one on the left shorter, the one on the right queer-er) showcase the moment of perreo combativo (a rebellious/transgressive/combative twerk-a-thon) held in Old San Juan on 24 July 19, the night former governor Rosselló resigned after fifteen days of intense protests.