This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Aitchison, G., (2022). Fragility as strength: The ethics and politics of hunger strikes. Journal of Political Philosophy, 30 (4), pp.535-558, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/jopp.12261. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions