This essay uses an anthropological phenomenology to examine the relevance of the notion of comfort. It contains a definition of comfort, an illustration of models of comfort distribution as well as an exploration of the potential contribution of sensuous relaxation in reviving theoretical tools introduced by Michel Foucault (techniques of the self ), Philippe Descola (naturalism), Mary Douglas (danger and risk) and Antonio Gramsci (hegemony). I show that these key notions in the history of anthropology can be usefully re- fashioned to analyse contemporary comfortable existences: the epochal shift towards the overcoming of fatigue; the progressive screening of the undo- mesticated environment from holistic sensuous experiences; the amplifica- tion of disgust associated to organic substances and agencies; the transition from an hegemony exercised through cultural institutions to a generalised dependency on global economic and financial agencies, resulting from the spread of comfortable production.

Technologically-propelled comfort. Some theoretical implications of the contemporary overcoming of fatigue / Boni, Stefano. - In: ANTROPOLOGIA. - ISSN 2281-4043. - (2016), pp. 133-151.

Technologically-propelled comfort. Some theoretical implications of the contemporary overcoming of fatigue

BONI, Stefano
2016

Abstract

This essay uses an anthropological phenomenology to examine the relevance of the notion of comfort. It contains a definition of comfort, an illustration of models of comfort distribution as well as an exploration of the potential contribution of sensuous relaxation in reviving theoretical tools introduced by Michel Foucault (techniques of the self ), Philippe Descola (naturalism), Mary Douglas (danger and risk) and Antonio Gramsci (hegemony). I show that these key notions in the history of anthropology can be usefully re- fashioned to analyse contemporary comfortable existences: the epochal shift towards the overcoming of fatigue; the progressive screening of the undo- mesticated environment from holistic sensuous experiences; the amplifica- tion of disgust associated to organic substances and agencies; the transition from an hegemony exercised through cultural institutions to a generalised dependency on global economic and financial agencies, resulting from the spread of comfortable production.
2016
133
151
Technologically-propelled comfort. Some theoretical implications of the contemporary overcoming of fatigue / Boni, Stefano. - In: ANTROPOLOGIA. - ISSN 2281-4043. - (2016), pp. 133-151.
Boni, Stefano
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11380/1109607
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