Beyond the Rules. Transgressive Bodies and Political Power

My main assumptions in this article are: a) that the notion of transgression should be understood not simply as 'breaking' but as 'overcoming the rules'; b) that the concrete body of each one of us is the first and most privileged site of transgression; and c) that rather than as a form of resistance, each act of transgression as the overcoming of rules should be thought of as an actual political act, implying the exercise of individual power, from which new rules can and do emerge. To argue for such assumptions, I first consider the notion of transgression with reference to conformity and dissent, trying to show that it should be considered as an exercise of power rather than a form of resistance. Then, I introduce the idea that bodies are sites of transgression, and briefly consider some concrete cases of 'transgressive bodies'. My conclusion is that we should take seriously the idea that 'the individual is the political', whose relevance and effective viability clearly emerges from the analysis of transgressive bodies' political incidence in contemporary complex societies.