Changing Repertoires of Emotion III
- Jandra Böttger research assistant
- Henrike Kohpeiß research assistant
- Jasmine Onstad student assistant
What role do events like the Ahr Valley flood, record-breaking global temperatures in July 2023, the normalisation of wildfires, and the ongoing drought of agricultural lands play in our political and everyday perceptions? How are these disasters publicly and interpersonally framed, and in what ways are they overlooked or denied?
The philosophical subproject D09: "Dynamics of Unfeeling" explores the emotional structures that accompany ecological disasters and obscure their reality. We propose that affective representation is needed to grasp these realities, while also investigating the historical and structural factors that hinder acute awareness. Central is the colonial legacy shaping our relationship to nature, visible in the exploitation of natural resources and habitat destruction. The 'imperial mode of living,' as described by Ulrich Brand and Markus Wissen, enmeshes people in consumption and material comfort, masking the exploitation that sustains modern prosperity. Furthermore, psychoanalytic insights into the repression of emotions and denial of reality - such as those observed in post-war Germany - offer valuable perspectives for understanding widespread emotional detachment from current ecological crises, even as they are extensively discussed.
By examining the dynamics of emotional responses to the world, this project seeks to engage with the urgent, epochal question: How can we develop a more socially informed understanding of the climate catastrophe and the affective structures which sustain its denial?