A large body of literature has emphasised the importance of every day forms of resistance in the workplace. In this paper, we seek to overcome the criticism of localism and banality that has been directed towards the everyday view of individualistic resistance as well as the limits of the conception of creative resistance that aims to co-produce change within a given system of power. To do this, we highlight and discuss the ideas concerning resistance generated by the film Modern Times, and more particularly by the tramp’s character. We focus on a local, highly individual, spontaneous and not formally organized kind of resistance, but one that builds on dissensus and reconfigures the order of a situation radically. Relying upon Rancière’s philosophy, we develop a conception of resistance that takes the form of affirmation rather the mere reaction to a system of domination. This allows us to underscore the power of the ‘aesthetic regime’ in understanding individual resistance as part of a universal claim for equality.
