WEBVTT

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

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

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

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

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manipulation, disenfranchisement, and oppression. 

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

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

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

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

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

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reproducing social and political hierarchies. 
Anti-authoritarian perspectives analyze and  

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

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what is deemed normal,  

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 what we should think of 
others,

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and what we should think about ourselves.

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The use of representation as a form 
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 
force,   

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but through the spread of ideology. 

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

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

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It is also a history of religious 
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 
other" to describe individuals, communities,  

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

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some fundamental way.

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

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

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The longterm subjugation of colonized 
people through this racist system of  

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representation lies at the very foundation of 


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settler-colonial cultures and political systems.

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 Colonial depictions of certain ethnic and 
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 
by creating images and tropes of common enemies.  

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

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

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

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

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And to this day, 

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dehumanizing representations of 
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 
policy    

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or act on others' behalf in the political arena

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In liberal democracies, elected 
representatives are understood to reflect the  

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

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ensuring that they have a voice 
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 
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 
and charismatic leaders are represented  

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

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Representative democracy promotes the 
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, 
even if it may be more effective in its illusions.  

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All governing institutions constrain 
individuals into passivity and subjugation,  

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

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disempower people from 
taking collective action.  

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

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comforting lie,

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

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

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We must understand and confront how various 
institutions use representation  

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to keep us divided, weak 

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and tied to the dominant 
system. 

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Politicians, corporations, media outlets  

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

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in widespread marginalization, subjugation, 
prejudice, micro-aggressions, 

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and even death.   

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The detrimental effects of mainstream 
representation around race,  

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gender, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, and 
more cannot be ignored. 

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At the same time,  

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

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positive ways equates to social, 
political and economic liberation.

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The ways in which people are seen, and they 
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 
with, and swallowed up, by representation.  

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By co-opting ideas around how historical radical 
grassroots movements 

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have addressed their own oppression, 

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major corporations, non-profit 
organizations and academic institutions have  

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

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

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and its increased focus on individualism. 


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Neoliberalism has restructured the global market 

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into a worldwide labor pool. 


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It's been accompanied by an ideology 

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that places heavy emphasis on privatization and 
individual responsibility. 

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Under this system,  

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

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

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"free and open" markets

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

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Neoliberalism has transformed political 
representation from a framework to address  

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

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into a demand to diversify the political and 
economic elite 

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without addressing the massive  

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

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As a result, a new kind of 
multicultural universalism has prospered,  

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

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Today, 

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capitalisms ability to profit 
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, 
suggesting that our social media profiles can  

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portray different sides of ourselves 
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 
the very systems that make us unequal. 

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Representation not only shapes what our culture 
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 
of representation who end up defining what reality is. 

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

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confronting our systemic disenfranchisement and 
alienation; 

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it is a constantly shifting trap   

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

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

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Instead, we should focus on building new ways 
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 
world, 

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all while challenging the current world order. 

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

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

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 At the base of anarchist philosophy 
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.