The Politics of Pleasure
(Summer 2022)

Summer 2022

In The Politics of Pleasure, celebrated British philosopher Kate Soper helms a forum in which she explores an idea she calls “alternative hedonism,” which, among other things, calls for a radical shrinking of the global economy. In her lead essay, Soper starts from the premise that one of the greatest challenges that austerity-minded reformers and environmental activists face is that their ask—that we must learn to make do with less—is an incredibly dreary proposition. In Soper's mind, this mischaracterizes the potential of degrowth: the problem with our present approaches to labor and consumption is not only that they are unsustainable, but that they are dehumanizing and lack genuine pleasure. Degrowth, then, offers us not only the potential to save the future but to recover the delights of a simpler, community-focused life. Forum respondents engage with Soper from a variety of perspectives, economic, philosophical, and practical.

In other essays in the issue, Lynne Segal explores the pleasures of collective action, Micki McElya considers the misogyny of Positive Psychology, Breanne Fahs explains how U.S.-style capitalism is ruining sex, Jonathan Levy asks how Italians' approach to lunch can help us understand Richard Rorty, Jennifer Nash praises the ordinary pleasures of Black motherhood, and Jack Parlett advances the democratic potential of cruising.

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