In a supposedly ‘anti-political age’, the boundaries which define ‘the political’ are central to understanding politics, particularly when their construction is determined by wider processes of cultural exclusion. This article aims to illuminate these issues by examining the ‘political’ and media tactics of one British social activist, known as ‘the Umbrella Man’, who works particularly on campaigns for old age and disability issues. In a society where symbolic power is heavily concentrated in media institutions, the actions of those who try to obtain media attention in spite of lacking the resources of media production reveal a great deal about the normal constraints on being noticed and heard. These are explored using various concepts from cultural studies, anthropology and political sociology, including transgression, exclusion, tactics and alternative celebrity.
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