The hunger strike as a performative device of a self-imposed death

Abstract

For a significant part of the 20th century and so far into the 21st century, hunger strikes have occupied a central place in the political struggles waged by subject peoples and excluded groups. This work analyzes the hunger strike as a performative device that amplifies the feeling of oppression and injustice by promising to cause one's own death if the demands that drive the protest are not met. It is argued that the strength of this action does not lie in the damage it can cause to enemies, but in its ability to wrest violence from the State, direct it against one's own body and stage self-inflicted pain. It is concluded from the relationship between politics, pain and the body in what has been considered one of the most extreme and controversial forms of protest. In this way, it seeks to contribute some reflections that allow a comprehensive approach to the installation of this device in the current global context, where hunger strikes by migrants, refugees, political prisoners and activists from ethnic and environmental groups are beginning to spread, such as a way of claiming life, even when, to do so, they must put their own existence at risk