The biopolitical function of disgust: ethical and political implications of biopedagogies of disgust in anti-colonial education

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper presents how biopedagogies of disgust can make a contribution to challenging the colonial order that is sustained through affective economies of disgust. It is argued that, for this to happen, teachers need to move students away from the negative affective responses of disgust towards an affirmation of radical difference. Affective solidarity, in particular, might serve as a foundational element of affirmative biopedagogies of disgust and provide a means to reversing the negative role of disgust in colonial continuity. It is argued that fostering affective solidarity is an ethically, politically and pedagogically valuable strategy, because it does not only generate empathy for the colonized Others’ suffering throughout history, but it also cultivates in students commitment to turn critical self-reflection on the visceral elements of disgust into transformative action.