The Poetics and Politics of Interruption in the 2020-21 Belarus Uprising
Keywords:
exhaustion, interruption, care strike, 2020-21 protest in Belarus, choreographies of protest, rhythms of resistanceAbstract
The paper addresses the notions of interruption and exhaustion in relation to the 2020–21 anti-governmental uprising in Belarus. It examines various forms of protesting, such as marches, neighbourhood gatherings and strikes from a feminist perspective. It focuses on the dynamics of visibility and opacity, social reproduction and politicization of mundane gestures, and on questioning the notion of revolutionary event and its temporalities.
Metrics
References
Artiukh, Volodymyr. 2020. “The Anatomy of Impatience: Exploring Factors behind 2020 Labour Unrest in Belarus.” Slavic Review 80(1): 52–60.
Atanasoski, Neda, and Kalindi Vora. 2018. “Postsocialist politics and the ends of revolution.” Social Identities 24(2): 139–54.
Belaruspolls. 2022. “Tenth survey wave.” How Russia's war against Ukraine has changed Belarusians' views on foreign affairs. Accessed March 30, 2023 https://en.belaruspolls.org/wave-10.
Belta. 2020. “President.” Лукашенко договорился с Путиным: Россия при первом запросе окажет помощь по обеспечению безопасности Беларуси [Lukashenka agreed with Putin: Russia at the first request will provide assistance to ensure the security of Belarus]. Last modified August 15, 2020. https://www.belta.by/president/view/lukashenko-dogovorilsja-s-putinym-rossija-pri-pervom-zaprose-okazhet-pomosch-po-obespecheniju-402964-2020/.
Butler, Judith. 2015. Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Collective Security Treaty Organization. n.d. “From the Treaty to the Organisation.” History of creation, fundamentals of activity, organizational structure. Accessed March 30, 2023. https://en.odkb-csto.org/25years/
Gapova, Elena. 2016. Классы наций: феминистская критика нациостроительства. [The Classes of Nations: the Feminist Critique of Nationbuilding]. Moscow: НЛО.
Graziano, Valeria. 2017. “Towards a theory of prefigurative practices.” In Post-Dance, edited by Danjel Andersson, Mette Edvarsdsen and Mårten Spångberg, 176–203. Stockholm: MDT.
Grabowska, Magdalena. 2021. “From Soviet Feminism to the European Union.” In The Routledge Handbook of Gender in Central-Eastern Europe and Eurasia, edited by Katalin Fábián, Janet Elise Johnson, Mara Lazda, 145 - 153. New York: Routledge.
Hedva, Johanna. 2020. “Sick Woman Theory.” Accessed September 30, 2023. https://www.kunstverein-hildesheim.de/assets/bilder/caring-structures-ausstellung-digital/Johanna-Hedva/cb6ec5c75f/AUSSTELLUNG_1110_Hedva_SWT_e.pdf
Kodeksy-by. 2021. “Законы Беларуси [Belarusian Laws].” Закон РБ О массовых мероприятиях [Law of Republic of Belarus on Mass Events]. Accessed March 30, 2023. https://kodeksy-by.com/zakon_rb_o_massovyh_meropriyatiyah.htm.
Kuchanskyi, Olexii. 2022. “It is Not a ‘Ukrainian Issue’: A Letter from a Civil Body on Activism and Cultural Production at War.” Transversal disarm*. Updated January 29, 2023. https://transversal.at/transversal/0422/kuchanskyi/en
Lawtrend. 2023. “Monitoring the situation of freedom of association and civil society organisations in the Republic of Belarus.” Last modified January 2023. https://www.lawtrend.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Monitoring_situatsii_s_polozheniem_OGO_yanvar_23_en_GB.pdf
Lepecki, André. 2013. “Choreopolice and Choreopolitics or, the task of the dancer.” The Drama Review 57(4): 13–27.
Lepecki, André. 2006. Exhausting Dance. Performance and the Politics of Movement. New York: Routledge.
Lorey, Isabell. 2020. Demokratie im Präsens. Eine Theorie der politischen Gegenwart. Berlin: Suhrkamp.
Lorey, Isabell. 2019. “The Power of the Presentist-Performative: on Current Democracy Movements.” In A Live Gathering: Performance and politics in contemporary Europe, edited by Ana Vujanovic and Livia Piazza, 26–38. Berlin: b_books.
Lysenko, Volodymyr V., and Kevin C. Desouza. 2015. “The Use of Information and Communication Technologies by Protesters and the Authorities in the Attempts at Colour Revolutions in Belarus 2001–2010.” Europe-Asia Studies 67(4): 624–51.
Majewska, Ewa. 2021. Feminist Antifascism. Counterpublics of the Common. New York: Verso.
Paulovich, Natallia. 2021. “How Feminist is the Belarusian Revolution? Female Agency and Participation in the 2020 Post-Election Protests.” Slavic Review 80(1): 38-44.
President of the Republic of Belarus. 2023. “Economy.” Union State. Accessed March 30, 2023.
https://president.gov.by/en/belarus/economics/economic-integration/union-state.
Rancière, Jacques. 2010. Dissensus. On Politics and Aesthetics. New York: Continuum.
Sarna, Aleksandr. 2011. “Vehicle without Brakes. Information Policy of the Belarusian State during the Election Campaign.” ТоПос 2: 122–137.
Shchyttsova, Tatsiana. 2011. “Sovereign Power and the Joy of Life.” ТоПос 2: 61–74.
Shchurko, Tatsiana. 2022. “From Belarus to Black Lives Matter: Rethinking protests in Belarus through a transnational feminist perspective.” Intersections EEJSP 8(4): 25–41.
Shparaga, Olga. 2022. “A Feminist Framework for Understanding of the Role of Women in the Belarusian Revolution: Domestic Violence, Care, and Sisterhood”. IWM. Updated January 29, 2023. https://www.iwm.at/blog/a-feminist-framework-for-understanding-of-the-role-of-women-in-the-belarusian-revolution.
Shparaga, Olga. 2021. У революции женское лицо. Случай Беларуси. [The Face of the Revolution is Female. The Case of Belarus]. Vilnius: Petro Ofsetas.
Solomatina, Irina. 2020. Interview by Luba Fein. “Women and Feminism in Belarus: The Truth behind the ‘Flower Power.’” Filia. Accessed September 30, 2023. https://www.filia.org.uk/latest-news/2020/9/21/women-and-feminism-in-belarus-the-truth-behind-the-flower-power
Stebur, Antonina. 2021. “The body is an instrument of struggle and a source of hope.” Tranzit. Accessed September 30, 2023. https://at.tranzit.org/en/news/0/2021-09-28/the-body-is-an-instrument-of-struggle-and-a-source-of-hope.
Terlinden, Ulla. 2003. “‘Public Man’ and ‘Private Woman’: Discourse and Practice in Western Societies.” In City and Gender: International Discourse on Gender, Urbanism, and Architecture, edited by Ulla Terlinden, 41-56. Opladen : Leske + Budrich.
Tuck, Eve, and K. Wayne Yang. 2014. “R-words: Refusing research.” In Humanizing research: Decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities, edited by D. Paris & M. T. Winn. Los Angeles, 223–48. CA: Sage Publications.
Tuck, Eve. 2009. “Suspending damage: A letter to communities.” Harvard Educational Review 79(3): 409–27.
United Nations. 2020. “UN human rights experts: Belarus must stop torturing protesters and prevent enforced disappearances.” Last modified September 1, 2020. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2020/09/un-human-rights-experts-belarus-must-stop-torturing-protesters-and-prevent.
Viasna. 2023. Last modified March 30, 2023. https://prisoners.spring96.org/en/.
Wolchik, Sharon, and Cristina Chiva. 2021. “Women’s Representation in Politics.” In The Routledge Handbook of Gender in Central-Eastern Europe and Eurasia, edited by Katalin Fábián, Janet Elise Johnson, Mara Lazda, 441-450. New York: Routledge.
World Bank. 2022. “International Debt Report 2022: Updated International Debt Statistics.” Accessed March 30, 2023. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/47f55cbf-ee14-531a-8acb-8e2406f4354d.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Olia Sosnovskaya
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors are aware that articles published in Atlantis are indexed and made available through various scholarly and professional search tools, including but not limited to Erudit.
3. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
4. Authors are permitted and encouraged to preprint their work, that is, post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process. This can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Read more on preprints here.
