Insurgent mournings in (in)human animality: political tensions between nostalgic fury and queer fury in Judith Butler

Abstract

This article, situated within the field of political philosophy, investigates the intersections between mourning, animality, and affective mobilization through the lens of Judith Butler’s work. It pursues two central objectives: first, to understand how (in)human animality can serve as a means to destabilize anthropocentric definitions of the human, thereby opening pathways for political recognition of dissident lives through alliances and assemblies; and second, to examine fury as a political force by distinguishing between two opposing forms — queer fury, which is critical, ethical, and nonviolent, aiming to transform oppressive structures without reproducing them; and nostalgic fury, which is regressive, resentful, and destructive, seeking to restore an exclusionary social order. The methodological approach adopts a post-structuralist and deconstructionist perspective, emphasizing a critical reading of the power dispositif that determines who may be recognized as human and who remains outside the bounds of legitimate mourning. In this same vein, the article proposes a cartographic reading of unrecognized losses, particularly those affecting bodies deemed less than human. As a result, it highlights the importance of distinguishing political mobilizations driven by fury, especially in contexts where insurgent mourning emerges from a liminal position between the human and the animal, challenging normative hierarchies of life.