Toppling statues, affective publics and the lessons of the Black Lives Matter movement

In this opening article, we explore how the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement challenges traditional norms and conduct of bourgeois public sphere. Ahmed argues White male body is abstracted in order to achieve a universal status (Ahmed) his ‘invisibility’ power; socially constructed whiteness forces those people considered be colour ‘marked highly visible’ (Purwar). We assert that abstracting whiteness, along with dominance rational debate leads patriarchal practices Utilizing Papacharissi’s concept ‘Affective Publics’, examine extent which online offline activities BLM – including toppling statues charge social media capacity act as fully fledged conclude exemplifies mode participation outstrips conventional thinking on sphere therefore can taken model for radically rethinking what ought be.