Affective Suffrage: Social Media, Street Protests, and Theatre as Alternative Spaces for Political Self-Representation in the 2012 Mexican Presidential Elections

Abstract

This article examines alternative forums for democratic self-representation as a response to state corruption, especially the social movement #YoSoy132, which emerged online and on the streets during Mexico’s 2012 electoral campaigns, demanding media impartiality and fair elections; and the theatrical work Atlas Electores 2012, Teatro Ojo’s biweekly scenic documentary series. Examining these representational spaces (the street protest, social media, and the stage) allows new insights into the performance of political representation. While a vote may be bought, discounted, or prevented, Mexican citizens vote symbolically with their bodies, occupying both physical and digital spaces. The heterotopias examined here are examples of meaning-making sites, where social actors contest state power. These spaces are affectively charged because, while the street and the stage are real locations, they also serve as representational spaces for enacting political desire. This article argues that the heterotopias of the stage, the street, and social media function as more productive sites for political self-representation during and just after the 2012 Mexican presidential elections than the voting booth’s anonymity, by fostering community and transparency in the face of a corrupt electoral system.