Self-Assertion, ‘Ignorant Backwoodsmen’ and the Experience of ‘(Un) Safe Spaces’
I want to suggest that contemporary notions of individuality and self-assertion have been, to some extent, significantly influenced by the thinking of the 18th-century Genevan political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Although a committed Christian, Rousseau nursed an understanding of the inner s...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
[2020]
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| In: |
Irish theological quarterly
Year: 2020, Volume: 85, Issue: 3, Pages: 230-246 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques 1712-1778
/ Identity politics
/ Individuality
/ Spirituality
/ Asceticism
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| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history NBE Anthropology NCD Political ethics |
| Further subjects: | B
Rousseau
B ascetic B Identity Politics B safe space |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | I want to suggest that contemporary notions of individuality and self-assertion have been, to some extent, significantly influenced by the thinking of the 18th-century Genevan political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Although a committed Christian, Rousseau nursed an understanding of the inner self which clearly resonates with the rise in the 21st century of secularized accounts of the person and the prevalence of ‘identity politics.’ I argue these are frequently contextualized within the demand for equality and have morphed into strategies of protection, witnessed most glaringly in the promotion of ‘safe spaces,’ especially in modern universities. While in some respects these developments are to be lauded, since they are located in moral strivings for justice, I argue that a too obsessive focus on the individual self can result in harmful consequences. Biblical writers, Desert Christians and contemporary ascetics know this and have something important to teach in this regard. Their emphasis on the formation of identity, based on scriptural reasoning and historical tradition, imbibed in the body, promotes collective subjectivity and saves the person from descending into introverted, aggrieved individualism, which, ironically, makes the fight for social justice less effective. |
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| ISSN: | 1752-4989 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Irish theological quarterly
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0021140020926594 |