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Lehrende: Rahel Spöhrer
Veranstaltungsart:
Sonstige
Orga-Einheit: Communication & Cultural Management
Anzeige im Stundenplan:
ZUsatz | Exhaustion
Semesterwochenstunden:
2
Credits:
2,5
Standort:
Campus der Zeppelin Universität
Unterrichtssprache:
Englisch
Min. | Max. Teilnehmerzahl:
5 | 22
Prioritätsschema: Standard-Priorisierung
Inhalte:
EXHAUSTION AND REGENERATION
Practices and forms of exhaustion, regenerating and repair
“Depressed? It Might Be Political!”
Ann Cvetkovich
Everybody and everything seems exhausted these days! During the pandemic, many shades of tiredness, exhaustion and anxiety were articulated in personal conversations, through social media, in newspapers and writings. Phenomena such as pandemic exhaustion and burnout, as well as difficulties in resocialization when the lockdown was lifted, could and can be observed. Psychological studies state that the rate of mental breakdowns and severe depression have increased during the global lockdown. Almost one in five 15- to 24-year-olds around the world say they often feel depressed, afraid, angry and uncertain about the future, states the latest UN Report on world children's health. The report explains further that mental health conditions are profoundly affected by surroundings and circumstances. Exhaustion, weariness, numbness and depression do not only seem to be a personal problem or medical disease, it can also be described as a cultural and political phenomenon, produced by social forces and, as Ann Cvetkovich describes it, as a public feeling. Feelings that arise in the face of violent conditions to which one feels systematically exposed. Exhaustion and grief as a state of severe hopelessness and helplessness may also occur in response to facing climate change, global pandemics and through experiencing and witnessing worldwide social and political injustice.
Not only people are exhausted. The planet is, too! Heat waves, floods, rising sea levels, hurricanes, dried out ground, acidified soils, droughts and fires clearly show the excessive strain on the earth and the distress of ecosystems. In a global economy built on profit, endless growth and private property, this earth is becoming increasingly exhausted. The way of life and production of the industrialized West, which is based on the brutal exploitation of resources, does not provide sufficient practices, resources or ways of recovery and therefore does not allow people or the planet to regenerate.
Against this background we will follow the thoughts of philosopher Eva von Redecker asking questions like: How can we nourish instead of dominate? Regenerate instead of exhaust? Share instead of exploit? How does a revolution which fosters life look like?
In the first part of the seminar, we will examine various forms of human and more than human exhaustion: through readings and discussion we will reflect on depression as a public feeling, we will consider feelings of exhaustion and despair as political, engage with forms of climate grief and we will discuss states of planetary distress.
In the second part of the course, we will look at practices from very different fields which aim at sustaining life rather than destroying it. Where do we find practices as well as structures which focus on maintenance, repair and care rather than exploitation and despair? How does an economist, a nurse, an activist, an artist, a gardener, a philosopher think about destruction and repair? What forms of economy, structures of working and ways of living enable regeneration? We will invite and talk to practitioners who aim to develop counter-practices that offer a way out of the destructive life forms we are currently tied to.
Lernziele:
Goals
Participants will learn to think through states of exhaustion, weariness and hopelessness as a cultural and political phenomenon. They will research very complex, sometimes and sensitive topics such as mental health issues, climate grief, depression and systematic collapses and learn to reflect these personally felt and seemingly individual states with structural ones. Through their research and the conversations with practitioners from very different field they will gain multi-layered perspectives on possible forms of action/agency in exhausting and demanding conditions.
Weitere Informationen zu den Prüfungsleistungen:
Examination
The examination consists of researching a person, practice or system that is dedicated to regeneration and addresses planetary distress. In a conversation in the form of an interview with at least one practitioner, this practice or system should be elaborated.
Why is this practice or system regenerative? What does it nurture and sustain? When does the practice affect, when does it exclude? How is this practice situated? Is it transferable? Is it related to individual wellbeing or does it allow a wider system to recover?
This conversation is to be processed, reflected upon, and presented in light of the course content.
All conversations from the course will be included in a small publication.
Literatur:
Literature
Cvetkovich, Ann: Depression: A Public Feeling, Duke University Press, 2012
Redecker, Eva: Revolution für das Leben, S.Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2020
Bellacasa, Maria Puig de la: Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More than Human Worlds, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 2017
Milo Probst: Für einen Umweltschutz der 99%, Edition Nautilus, Zürich 2021
Sabine Hark: Gemeinschaft der Ungewählten. Umrisse eines politischen Ethos der Kohabitation, Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2021
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