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Life-Hacks of the Poor and Aimless
Article

Life-Hacks of the Poor and Aimless

On Negotiating the False Idols of Neoliberal Self-Care

Laurie Penny
The Baffler, 2016
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Recommendation

Faced with modern “wellness” ideologies which imply that all life’s problems can be solved with a better exercise routine or change in mind-set, it’s little wonder that many on the progressive left reject the notion of self-care altogether. But, as author and editor Laurie Penny persuasively argues in this article, rejecting self-care entirely, in favor of “despair” and unhealthy habits, won’t solve social problems either. Society needs a new view on self-care – one which recognizes its value, as well as its potential for coercion. getAbstract recommends Penny’s perspective to political progressives.

Summary

The idea that you can exercise or diet your way to a better life may sound attractive, but, ultimately, these and similar “self-care” ideologies simply encourage a critical view of yourself – rather than addressing the socioeconomic issues so many people face today.

Corporations, as well as many on the political right, use modern ideologies of “wellness” and self-care as a way of masking real problems – much as the British Conservative Party did when it encouraged those  rendered unemployed by the recession...

About the Author

Laurie Penny is a contributing editor at the New Statesman. She is the author of five books, most recently, Unspeakable Things.

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