My argument is that the participatory ethos has contributed to cancel culture. I analyse
various framings of cancel culture, as it is a complex phenomenon, one aspect of which
concerns myth and ritual. I connect this to criticism of the participatory turn in
contemporary art, which claims that participation is a public ritual that has been
politically co-opted for different ends, such as producing fake consensus or the illusion
of democratic engagement. To test my argument, I analyse my own cancellation, whilst
being involved in Hungarian feminism, which in my experience has been a backwater
in political parties and lobbies. I claim that the participatory turn has indeed been
co-opted, either to represent participation, or as formats for politically instrumentalised
subjectivation rituals. Cancellations take place when rituals of subjectivation and
representation become sacrificial rituals, since sacrificing someone imbues participation
with affect.
