Everyday Resistance in Political Contexts
Summary
Everyday resistance encompasses the hidden, informal and often subtle actions through which individuals and communities contest power in their daily lives. Far from large‐scale protests or organised movements, these practices include foot‐dragging, feigned ignorance, humour, the adaptation of official rules, whispers of dissent and other tactics that evade direct confrontation. Grounded in the work of early theorists such as James C. Scott and enriched by Foucauldian notions of power and subjectivity, everyday resistance reveals how marginalised actors exercise agency in contexts where open defiance would be perilous. This perspective highlights the political potency of seemingly innocuous acts within workplaces, urban environments, social media and cultural scenes. Across diverse global settings—from healthcare institutions to creative subcultures—everyday resistance serves both as a means of survival under authoritarian constraints and as a seedbed for broader social change. By attending to micro‐acts of non‐compliance and the inventive reworking of norms, scholars illuminate pathways by which marginal voices shape governance, foster solidarity and prefigure alternative futures.
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Everyday Resistance in Political Contexts publication trend
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Technical terms
Everyday resistance: Informal, non-overt actions by individuals or small groups that undermine or subvert power structures in daily settings.
Counter-conduct: Practices of passive non-compliance and diversion that redirect or neutralise authority without open defiance.
Prefigurative practice: The enactment of desired social and political norms through everyday routines, modelling alternatives to existing power relations.
References
- Passivity as Resistance: Counter-Conduct in Japan and Cambodia. Global Society (2024).
- Rejecting resistance: Everyday resistance and harmony in Chinese hip-hop. The Sociological Review (2024).
- Everyday Resistance in the U.K.’s National Health Service. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry (2023).
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