Political agency requires stable location, place, and commitment rather than flux

Evidence

Ahmad (1995), in a similarly scathing critique, argues that articulations of hybridity fail to address adequately the social and political continuities and transformations that underpin individual and collective action in the real world. In that world, he argues, political agency is “constituted not in flux or displacement but in given historical locations.” Moreover, it is sustained by a coherent “sense of place, of belonging, of some stable commitment to one’s class or gender or nation” (Ahmad, 1995:16, 14). — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 921

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to broader postcolonial debates on hybridity (Bhabha, Spivak) versus Marxist/materialist critiques that demand historicized political location. — connects to: Political action can express communal dwelling with uncertainty rather than a clear plan; Goodhart divides politics into rooted somewheres and rootless anywheres — Wendy Brown, In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise…, 312; Activist commitment stems from positive place bonding, not exposure to degradation. — David A. Gruenewald, The Best of Both Worlds: A Critical…, 68 (+3 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 921