ABSTRACT

Hunger strikes appear to occupy a liminal position within the literature of power and resistance, constituting a contradictory means of empowerment — weakening the body while politically strengthening the subject. As such, this tactic eludes classification, in fact operating as an impure form of contestation. Scholars have also revealed that food refusal operates as a primarily symbolic form of resistance. I extend these conclusions to understand how hunger strikers use impure and contradictory discourse to frame their food refusal, a tactic understood best through Chela Sandoval’s (2003 Sandoval, Chela. 2003. Methodology of the Oppressed. Minneapolis, MN: University Of Minnesota Press. [Google Scholar]) the notion of differential consciousness. Just as hunger strikes constitute an impure means of resistance, they also appear to prefigure opportunities for dynamic and impure modes of discursive contestation. Through analysis of social media communications, detainee letters, and press releases, I unpack efforts to engage and challenge the dynamic, overlapping, and seemingly contradictory hegemonic discourses of deservingness, rights, and family. I also elucidate how differential consciousness allows incarcerated hunger strikers and their supporters to build legitimate authority within recognizable relations while building space for alternative logics — drawing on hegemonic discourses to construct alternative possibilities. Hunger strikes offer unique insight into how the study of carceral foodways is not only about consuming food, but also about refusing it.

摘要

绝食似乎在权力和抵抗的文献中占据了一个临界位置，构成了一种矛盾的赋权手段——在政治上加强主体的同时削弱身体。因此，这种策略避开了分类，实际上作为一种不纯的竞争形式运作。学者们还透露，拒绝食物主要是一种象征性的抵抗形式。我扩展这些结论以了解绝食者如何使用不纯和矛盾的话语来构建他们的食物拒绝，这是通过 Chela Sandoval ( 2003 ) 最能理解的策略 桑多瓦尔，切拉。 2003 年。被压迫者的方法论。明尼苏达州明尼阿波利斯：明尼苏达大学出版社。 [谷歌学术]）差异意识的概念。正如绝食构成不纯粹的抵抗手段一样，它们似乎也预示了动态和不纯粹的话语竞争模式的机会。通过对社交媒体通讯、被拘留者信件和新闻稿的分析，我展开了参与和挑战关于应得、权利和家庭的动态、重叠和看似矛盾的霸权话语的努力. 我还阐明了差异意识如何让被监禁的绝食抗议者及其支持者在可识别的关系中建立合法权威，同时为替代逻辑建立空间——利用霸权话语构建替代可能性。绝食提供了独特的见解，让我们了解对监狱饮食方式的研究不仅是关于消费食物，而且是关于拒绝食物。