The Problem with Performativity: Comments on the Contributions

This is the final version of my contribution to an upcoming special issue of the Journal of International Relations and Development on the topic of “performances of agency.” The main contributions are by Karin Fierke, Christian Bueger, Dorothy Noyes, Tobias Wille, Sebastian Abrahamsson and Endre Dányi. My article is a “discussion of the contributions” which concludes the issue. I'm critical of the post-structuralist stance taken by the contributions and criticize their notion of “performativity.” Instead I defend a more theatrical understanding of actors and agency — emphasizing the importance of the imagination and of embodiment.