In the case of Conflict, saying “I refuse to speak to her” can be a behavior that performs the role of “righteous victim of abuse” without the actor actually being in that situation.
okay, but isn't it also worth making a distinction between performing a role and the host of other things that that sort of performative utterance can achieve? for example, can't "I refuse to speak to so and so" achieve more and perform more than simply what Schulman is talking about (i.e. virtue signalling?)? I guess my concern, simplified, is how does the situation change when you removed loaded terms like abuse or victim? (and I guess that's probably Schulman's point as well now that I think of it)...
