COL5129H: New Addictions for the Anthropocene

What changes are necessary in order to impede or even counteract the effects of climate change? This course argues that it is not through science and technology that a shift in our society can be enacted, but rather through an examination of who we think we are, what we think we need and want, and which of our habits and addictions are killing us and our planet. Catherine Malabou argues for what she calls “new addictions” as a way to think our relationship to history and to our actions. This course focuses on addiction as it interrogates the concept of subjectivity. Addiction undermines a neoliberal and agentic idea of the subject by putting into question ideas of self-aware freedom and consciousness. By examining critical theory, (science) fiction, essays, and visual art we will articulate a critique of self-possession and ask what addictions we need to cultivate in order to adapt to a new history. Theoretical texts will include William James, Malabou, Elizabeth Povinelli, Amitav Ghosh, and Andreas Malm. Primary texts could include Jeff Vandermeer, Rachel Kushner, Nnedi Okorafor, and various contemporary visual artists.

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