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Representation is a broad concept that [br]relates to many different spheres of daily life:

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language, media, economics, politics, culture [br]and social identity itself. Understanding the

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different ways that representation functions is [br]crucial to understanding the operation of power.

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When wielded by states and capitalists, [br]representation can be a powerful tool of

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manipulation, disenfranchisement, and oppression.

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Representation is most commonly understood [br]as a visual, written, or audio depiction

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of something, or someone. It can refer broadly [br]to what images mean, and how they come to take

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on those meanings. It can also refer to the [br]process of how an individual comes to serve

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as a stand-in for a given community, political [br]party, or ideology. The concept of representation

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is important for anarchism because of the [br]fundamental role it plays in producing and

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reproducing social and political hierarchies. [br]Anti-authoritarian perspectives analyze and

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understand how representation sets the [br]terms for what is considered truth,

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what is deemed normal,

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what we should think of [br]others,

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and what we should think about ourselves.

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The use of representation as a form [br]of power and a means of control

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has been around for centuries.

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Powerful  nations have always maintained their status

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not just through the deployment of military [br]force,

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but through the spread of ideology.

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And one of the most successful ways of spreading [br]ideology has been through the idea of  representation.

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The history of colonialism is not [br]just a series of military conquests.

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It is also a history of religious [br]decrees, fictional literature,

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academic writings,

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scientific reporting

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museum exhibitions

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Western european countries painted the picture of "the [br]other" to describe individuals, communities,

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and entire nations who didn't belong to the [br]dominant group, and were therefore different in

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some fundamental way.

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In other words, people [br]became marked as distinct from "the norm"

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or made out to be more prized or vile, [br]based on how they were represented.

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The longterm subjugation of colonized [br]people through this racist system of

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representation lies at the very foundation of [br]

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settler-colonial cultures and political systems.

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Colonial depictions of certain ethnic and [br]racial groupings are bound tightly to other forms

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of oppression,

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such as white supremacy

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and patriarchal concepts of gender.

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The ruling classes maintain their control [br]by creating images and tropes of common enemies.

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Whether this enemy is represented as the figure [br]of the terrorist, immigrant, homosexual, or

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anarchist, it can be used to help corral patriotic [br]sentiments and develop a sense of us vs. them,

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binding a segment of the people to their rulers [br]through the shared bonds of identity.

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This use of representation was foundational [br]to the formation of nation-states.

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And to this day,

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dehumanizing representations of [br]internal and external enemies permeate popular culture.

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It shapes societies' collective psyche,

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and forges new forms of reactionary allegiance.

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Representation is the life blood of politics.

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It is at play every time political actors advocate [br]policy

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or act on others' behalf in the political arena

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In liberal democracies, elected [br]representatives are understood to reflect the

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will of the majority. These politicians claim to [br]represent their constituents' interests, thereby

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ensuring that they have a voice [br]in public policy-making.

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This is a lie that fools fewer people every year.

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Whether a state is ruled by liberal democratic  institutions,

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military dictatorships,

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one-party rule,

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or hereditary dynasties,

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representation is key to the maintenance [br]of legitimacy and power.

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Behind the  scenes,

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bartering,

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optics

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competition,

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manipulation

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nepotism

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and an array of underlying social dynamics

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always factor into how authority is upheld and maintained.

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But to the public,

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sacred state institutions [br]and charismatic leaders are represented

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as a stand in for abstract concepts [br]like majority rule and a nation's freedom.

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Representative democracy promotes the [br]idea that our only way of wielding power

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is by choosing who will represent us.

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This  discourages us from learning how to wield power for ourselves.

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Democracy is not alone in this, [br]even if it may be more effective in its illusions.

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All governing institutions constrain [br]individuals into passivity and subjugation,

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then rely on the language of representation [br]to maintain hierarchies and divisions that

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disempower people from [br]taking collective action.

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The idea that common people are active participants [br]in a well-meaning political system is a

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comforting lie,

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which serves to hide [br]the fact that we are, more or less,

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merely spectators of a rat race [br]between the people in charge.

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We must understand and confront how various [br]institutions use representation

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to keep us divided, weak

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and tied to the dominant [br]system.

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Politicians, corporations, media outlets

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organized religions, and non-profits continue [br]to spread dangerous ideologies that result

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in widespread marginalization, subjugation, [br]prejudice, micro-aggressions,

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and even death.

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The detrimental effects of mainstream [br]representation around race,

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gender, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, and [br]more cannot be ignored.

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At the same time,

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we must not fall prey to the myth [br]that being represented in more

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positive ways equates to social, [br]political and economic liberation.

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The ways in which people are seen, and they [br]ways they see themselves are

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essentialcomponents of revolutionary struggle.

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But under liberal democratic capitalist regimes,

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notions of equality are often conflated [br]with, and swallowed up, by representation.

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By co-opting ideas around how historical radical [br]grassroots movements

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have addressed their own oppression,

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major corporations, non-profit [br]organizations and academic institutions have

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attempted to prioritize reformist, non-violent [br]steps towards more progressive representation.

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This common political tactic coincided neatly [br]with the rise of neoliberal globalization,

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and its increased focus on individualism. [br]

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Neoliberalism has restructured the global market

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into a worldwide labor pool. [br]

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It's been accompanied by an ideology

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that places heavy emphasis on privatization and [br]individual responsibility.

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Under this system,

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states and capital have used representation to [br]weave together the illusion of a global community;

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they point to increased diversity within the [br]ruling classes to support the idea that

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"free and open" markets

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are evidence of how "democratic" [br]and "tolerant" the neoliberal order is.

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Neoliberalism has transformed political [br]representation from a framework to address

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racism, sexism, and all other forms of [br]injustice that thrive within capitalism

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into a demand to diversify the political and [br]economic elite

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without addressing the massive

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wealth and income inequalities that form [br]the material foundation of oppression.

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As a result, a new kind of [br]multicultural universalism has prospered,

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one that lionizes difference, even as [br]it ignores real-world, systemic issues.

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Today,

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capitalisms ability to profit [br]from the representation of marginalized

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communities is more evident than ever.

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The internet encourages the creation and constant

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shaping of multiple accounts and identities, [br]suggesting that our social media profiles can

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portray different sides of ourselves [br]to the outside world, in all sorts of

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unique, endlessly customizable ways.

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So-called 'late capitalism' skews our perception

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of representation's power.

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Instead of being granted equality,

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we are being sold a product:

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a representation of "equality" from [br]the very systems that make us unequal.

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Representation not only shapes what our culture [br]looks like.

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It impacts our sense of reality.

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And it is the people who are creating mass systems [br]of representation who end up defining what reality is.

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This keeps us all locked in a [br]never-ending spectacle, without honestly

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confronting our systemic disenfranchisement and [br]alienation;

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it is a constantly shifting trap

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for maintaining a status quo that will never [br]address the root of structural inequality.

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We must reject increased representation as the [br]ceiling and litmus test for social change.

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Instead, we should focus on building new ways [br]to celebrate our diversity

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and promote our own means of artistic and cultural production.

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This means that any representation we do take part in

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should prioritize authenticity, community empowerment,

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and an explicit  drive to build a new, more liberatory [br]world,

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all while challenging the current world order.

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Anarchism rejects the idea that anyone can [br]genuinely represent another person's real needs.

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It rejects the idea that those in power [br]should coordinate people's desires and interests.

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At the base of anarchist philosophy [br]lies a deep desire for an interdependent,

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ungovernable world.

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No representation or  representatives inside a mass system will

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ever help us build that world.

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We must do it for ourselves.