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Individual’s existential ambivalence has according to Jacques Derrida, one of the foremost proponents of post-structuralism, led to a continuous demand for structure (Cooper, 1989). Categories, used as structural tools, are however often hierarchically organized, where one category is more preferable than the other, also referred to as binary oppositions. Alternative categories and/ or references will appear when adopting a deconstruction process, which is crucial in order to invoke change and development (Cooper, 1989; Markkula et al., 2011; Marion, 2006). The aim of present research is trying to identify if Derrida’s theory of undecidable transfer of features (Agger, 1991; Cooper, 1989; Livingston, 2010; Bates, 2005) is applicable in fashion, more specifically fast- and slow fashion, and if the two categories are susceptible to a merge. Deconstructionism and Derrida’s theory of undecidable was furthermore applied as the theoretical framework throughout the study. Present research has been executed with an interpretive methodological approach and through a poststructural epistemological outlook (Hudson & Ozanne, 1988; Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2016). Data was derived through two focus group interviews, involving seven informants at a time, with Autodriving as a visual research tool (Heisley & Levy, 1991) and open-ended questions as a complementing instrument (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2016). A thematic analysis was furthermore applied when revisiting the data and analysing its content. The findings finally suggest that a merge between fast- and slow fashion is executable, which furthermore also legitimises Derrida’s theory of undecidability. This study has however only begun the deconstruction process and does therefore encourage future researchers to continue investigating the theory of undecidability (Agger, 1991; Cooper, 1989; Livingston, 2010; Bates, 2005) not only in fashion, but also within other institutions.

The circumstance of mass incarceration in the U.S. has reached the point of social crisis. When the statistics on imprisonment are demographically disaggregated, they point to the overrepresentation of imprisoned men and women of color. Paying special attention to Black men and women, critical race, prison advocacy, and Black feminist research has been vital in theorizing the structural and ideological implications of this racial inequity. The insight that the U.S. prison system constitutes a prison industrial complex arose from such scholarship. More recently, transnational feminism has offered insight into the specific experience and socio-historical contextualization of raced women within a transnational prison industrial complex. Based on transnational and Black feminist precepts, this thesis will argue the need to reframe the discursive position of imprisoned Black women in liberatory discourse. Using the work of Homi K. Bhabha, I contend that Black women’s discursive positions should be understood as “culturally undecidable.” Dominant paradigms of mainstream feminism have assigned Black women the task of fulfilling the ideal of “true womanhood.” Black feminist scholars have argued that this model erases and marginalizes Black women’s resistance. I suggest the imposition of this ideal rhetorically fixes Black women as victims, pathologizes them, and ultimately pathologizes the Black community. In contrast, renaming Black women’s discursive position as “culturally undecidable” creates the possibility to decenter the transnational networks that underpin the transnational prison industrial complex. To proffer this argument, I will analyze performative resistances and reifications of criminalization within narratives of imprisoned Black women and suggest performance practices to encourage Black women’s sense of agency. / text