Ana Miranda Mora

Utrecht University

Rage against Violence: An Affective Conceptualization of Feminist Resistance

3 June 2025, 17h00 (Lisbon Time — GMT+1)

Sala Mattos Romão (Room C201.J – Department of Philosophy)

School of Arts and Humanities – University of Lisbon

Abstract

This paper explores the philosophical significance of rage as an affective force in practices of political resistance, challenging prevailing accounts that dismiss or marginalize the role of emotions in politics. Drawing on contemporary affect theory and feminist political philosophy, the paper situates rage not merely as a reaction to injustice but as a constitutive element in forming political subjectivity and collective action. By distinguishing rage from ressentiment and violence, I argue that rage can embody a form of political praxis against structural violence. Rather than viewing affect as irrational or apolitical, this conceptualization frames rage as a generative and intelligible response to the lived experience of domination. The paper thus contributes to ongoing debates on the role of emotions in political agency, offering a re-evaluation of resistance that foregrounds affective life as an embodied and affective response to systemic injustice.

This activity is funded by Portuguese national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., within the project UID/00310/2025, Centro de Filosofia da Universidade de Lisboa
(https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/00310/2025)