Resonance, a sociology of the relationship to the world / Hartmut Rosa ; translated by James C. Wagner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rosa, Hartmut, 1965- author.

Contributor:

Wagner, James C., translator.

Standardized Title:

Resonanz. English

Language:

English

German

Subjects (All):

Sociology--Philosophy.

Sociology.

Interpersonal relations.

Social change.

Individualism.

Physical Description:

xiv, 554 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

English edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; Medford, MA : Polity Press, [2019]

Summary:

The pace of modern life is undoubtedly speeding up, yet this acceleration does not seem to have made us any happier or more content. If acceleration is the problem, then the solution, argues Hartmut Rosa in this major new work, lies in “resonance.” The quality of a human life cannot be measured simply in terms of resources, options, and moments of happiness; instead, we must consider our relationship to, or resonance with, the world. Applying his theory of resonance to many domains of human activity, Rosa describes the full spectrum of ways in which we establish our relationship to the world, from the act of breathing to the adoption of culturally distinct worldviews. He then turns to the realms of concrete experience and action - family and politics, work and sports, religion and art - in which we as late modern subjects seek out resonance. This task is proving ever more difficult as modernity's logic of escalation is both cause and consequence of a distorted relationship to the world, at individual and collective levels. As Rosa shows, all the great crises of modern society - the environmental crisis, the crisis of democracy, the psychological crisis - can also be understood and analyzed in terms of resonance and our broken relationship to the world around us. Building on his now classic work on acceleration, Rosa's new book is a major new contribution to the theory of modernity, showing how our problematic relation to the world is at the crux of some of the most pressing issues we face today. This bold renewal of critical theory for our times will be of great interest to students and scholars across the social sciences and humanities.-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 Sociology, Modernity, and the Good Life p. 17

2 The Basic Idea: Successful and Unsuccessful Relationships to the World p. 26

3 What is the World? Who is a Subject? p. 31

4 Method of Analysis p. 37

Part 1 The Basic Elements of Human Relationships to the World

II Bodily Relationships to the World p. 47

1 Being Situated in the World p. 47

2 Breathing p. 52

4 Voice, Gaze, Countenance p. 62

5 Walking, Standing, Sleeping p. 71

6 Laughing, Crying, Loving p. 76

III Appropriating World and Experiencing World p. 83

1 Inscription and Expression: The Worldly Body as Designed Self p. 83

2 Media of Our Relationship to the World p. 88

3 Modifying from Without or Subduing from Within: The Body as Resource, Instrument, and Design Object p. 96

4 Self-Alienation: The Body as Enemy p. 104

IV Emotional, Evaluative, and Cognitive Relationships to the World p. 110

1 Fear and Desire as Elementary Forms of Our Relationship to the World p. 110

2 Experiencing World and Appropriating World p. 124

3 Cognitive Roadmaps and Cultural Worldviews p. 126

4 Roadmaps of Desire and Evaluation p. 132

5 Psycho-Emotional Grounding and Defining the Problem of Existence p. 138

V Resonance and Alienation as Basic Categories of a Theory of Our Relationship to the World p. 145

1 Mirror Neurons and Divining Rods: Intersubjectivity as an Anthropological Basis p. 145

2 Intrinsic Interests and Perceived Self-Efficacy p. 158

3 Resonance p. 164

4 Alienation p. 174

5 The Dialectic of Resonance and Alienation p. 184

Part 2 Spheres and Axes of Resonance

VI Introduction: Spheres of Resonance, Recognition, and the Axes of Our Relationship to the World p. 195

VII Horizontal Axes of Resonance p. 202

1 Family as a Harbor of Resonance in a Stormy Sea p. 202

2 Friendship: Human Affection and the Power of Forgiveness p. 209

3 Politics: The Four Voices of Democracy p. 215

VIII Diagonal Axes of Resonance p. 226

1 Relating to Objects: "I Love to Hear the Singing of Things" p. 226

2 Work: When Material Begins to Respond p. 233

3 Schools as Resonant Spaces p. 238

4 Sports and Consumption as Efforts to Feel Oneself p. 249

IX Vertical Axes of Resonance p. 258

1 The Promise of Religion p. 258

2 The Voice of Nature p. 268

3 The Power of Art p. 280

4 The Mantle of History p. 296

Part 3 Fear of the Muting of the World: A Reconstruction of Modernity in Terms of Resonance Theory

X Modernity as the History of a Catastrophe of Resonance p. 307

1 What is Modernity? p. 307

2 The Muting of the World in Literature and Philosophy p. 310

3 Toward a Sociology of Our Relationship to the World p. 320

XI Modernity as the History of Increasing Sensitivity to Resonance p. 357

XII Deserts and Oases of Life: Modern Everyday Practices in Terms of Resonance Theory p. 367

Part 4 A Critical Theory Of Our Relationship to the World

XIII Social Conditions of Successful and Unsuccessful Relationships to the World p. 381

1 Contextual Factors: On Atmospheres and Moods p. 381

2 Cultural and Sociostructural Factors: Is Resonance Catholic, Feminine, Young? p. 388

3 Institutional Factors: Between School and Stock Market p. 397

XIV Dynamic Stabilization: The Escalatory Logic of Modernity and Its Consequences p. 404

1 What Does "Dynamic Stabilization" Mean? p. 404

2 Competition and Acceleration: Individual Relationships to the World under the Conditions of an Escalatory Regime p. 414

3 Illegibility: The World as Adversary and Affront p. 420

XV Late Modern Crises of Resonance and the Contours of a Post-Growth Society p. 425

1 Crisis and the Muting of the World p. 425

2 Contours of a Post-Growth Society p. 434

In Lieu of an Afterword: Defending Resonance Theory against Its Critics - and Optimism against Skeptics p. 444.

Notes:

"First published in German as "Resonanz: Eine Soziologie der Weltbeziehung" © Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin, 2019"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1509519890

9781509519897

OCLC:

1078884565