Positionality and the Representative Archive: Analysing Subject-Position Construction in Representative Claims

Within studies of representation, following the constructivist turn, positionality and context have become increasingly important. This has been mainly explored in relation to descriptive representation and the impact this has on the substantive representation of minorities. This paper thus goes beyond who (descriptive) and what (substantive) is represented, instead exploring how representation is performed (Goffman 1956; Saward 2020). It argues that as representative claims are structured by and structuring society, they take place within a representative archive. Drawing on postcolonial, memory studies and social representations theory, this representative archive is conceptualised as the structural setting wherein representative claims are performed. This conceptual argument will be laid out through the case of Assita Kanko, who is a MEP for the Flemish nationalistic party N-VA. The tension between ascribed and claimed identities is high in her case, as she actively resists the labels ascribed to her as a black, first-generation Belgian woman. The question then arises how this would influence her claim-making, and possibly limit her access to particular repertoires from the representative archive. Using all her contributions in 2023 to plenary debates in the European Parliament, a claim-analysis is done; focussing on the created subject-positions. As her ascribed descriptive identity disrupts the somatic norms of the Parliament (Puwar 2004), her claims need to establish her as a valid representative. The deeply embedded nature of all representative claims in the representative archive is laid bare, wherein one’s positionality is crucial to access archival repertoires for successful claims.