Thinking Behind Someone’s Back: Notes on Student Strike

Abstract

What act inaugurates a class? More than just authorized speech, the gesture that originates and sustains this process is the posture of those involved. Designating both bodily configuration and psychological disposition, posture operates silently, dynamically, and heterogeneously within a study space. We propose to consider a brief history of postures in literary studies. To do this, we will begin, in reverse, with images of school and university occupations where desks and chairs are contested and (mis)used. Thus, considering the demand for alternative ways to place and constitute bodies (students, teachers, staff, bibliographic), we will explore the specific experience of insurgent learning during strikes and student workshops that transcend the classroom, asserting their presence from the outside.