Becoming- work

Abstract

Chapter 11 describes a new approach to adherence. Earlier chapters have examined the various forms of work that social movements do and asked whether and when such work can be pursued conjointly, by adherents as well as constituents. Chapter 11 reverses the question and looks beyond the answers so far given. It asks: what else would the work have to be, in order for it to be possible for adherents and constituents to pursue it conjointly? It defines a sixth approach, beyond the five already discussed in chapter 10—which it terms “becoming- work,” drawing on the work of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. It assesses the implication of becoming- work for the older dilemmas of adherence and describes some contemporary and emerging examples of the approach in alter-globalization politics and queer theory.