On Dissensus, Resistance and Minority Becomings

The contemporary crises of neoliberal economics have given rise to a series of popular uprisings around the world. These revolts have sparked a type of demand that points to an unusual kind of struggle. The so-called ‘struggles of desire’, often led by feminist, indigenous and ecological movements, call for a change in modes of existence. However, a strange paradox of causes and effects emerges. Faced with the apparent inconceivability of a world beyond the tentacles of the capitalist economic rationality, the assemblage of the myriad minority groups mobilising around the world is becoming one of the primary threats to market stability and a growing danger for liberal democracies. In this context, current far-right social and political movements claim to have been called to stand up for the ‘common good’ against the threats of those who, presumably, persevere in the pursuit of their own interests. This article will address the multifaceted nature of the problem in three parts: first, by examining the so-called prevailing political realism; second, by analysing the question of community and the defence of the common good; and, finally, by exploring the emergence of minority becomings that go beyond the apparent fight for recognition of egalitarian rights brought up by contemporary minority movements.