Becomings

Becomings is a term used in philosophy and social theory to describe processes of change in which entities do not possess fixed identities but continually transform through relations and events. The term builds on the broader idea of becoming, notably in Heraclitus and process philosophy, but uses the plural form to emphasize multiplicity and ongoing experimentation across domains such as bodies, identities, technologies, and social roles.

In the work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, becomings denote deterritorialized lineages that cut across established categories. They describe "becoming-animal," "becoming-woman," or "becoming-imperceptible" as paths that destabilize fixed essences and produce novel assemblages through constant variation and contact with other beings and milieus.

Becomings have pervaded contemporary feminist, posthuman, and cultural theory, where identity is viewed as procedural rather than essential. Here, subject formation is seen as the outcome of ongoing practices, materials, and technologies—education, kinship, media, and work—that continually reconfigure who or what one is becoming.

Critiques note that the concept can risk abstraction or imply fatalistic contingency. Proponents respond that becomings foreground agency distributed across networks and time, and encourage sensitivity to nonhuman agencies and asymmetric power relations.

See also: becoming, process philosophy, posthumanism, deterritorialization, assemblage theory. Further reading includes primary texts by Deleuze and Guattari and secondary literature on becomings in gender and technology studies.