Movements of power and acts of resistance: Falun Gong and the politics of everyday life
Date
2000
Authors
Blackburn, Michael Lewis
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Abstract
Any attempt to appreciate the complex reality of the Falun Gong from a political perspective is immediately challenged by the limitations of available discourse to evaluate the political character of the silent performance of morning exercises in Chinese parks by individuals belonging to widely contrasting social, educational and economic backgrounds. Three possible analyses of the Falun Gong's resistance are offered: as an example of a Human Security concern featuring a necessary tension between an unstable State and its members; as an example of a New Social Movement, through which the foundation and organization of the group can be seen to reflect similar movements worldwide; and as an expression of a type of non-discursive political resistance which is located in the bricolage of everyday activities. These discussions allow consideration of various locations where the political in the Falun Gong may be (simultaneously) located, while also allowing further meditation upon the strategic possibilities implied by such non-violent, trans-societal activism for dominated communities worldwide.