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Radical happiness lynne segal6/8/2023 ![]() ![]() This was exactly the shared joy that other father of sociology, Max Weber, saw as disappearing with the advent of capitalism, forever at odds with its dour individualising principles – and never more so than now, when it’s ever harder to escape that never-ending project of self-improvement. ![]() The father of sociology, Émile Durkheim, noted the role of public festivals in affirming community belonging, generating forms of “collective effervescence”. It’s a moment when we can escape that gloomy tyrant – ourselves – so often brooding over our own shortcomings or sense of isolation. ![]() This explains joy’s traditional ties with something we feel is larger than ourselves, perhaps our teams winning at football, or other collective excitements. We may discern it, perhaps hovering on the horizon of possibilities, if often in events we feel we are missing out on.įor what is distinctive about joy, as I argue in my book ‘Radical Happiness’, is that it can break down distances between people, bringing us together – at least with those able to share the same delight. ![]() But where is joy? Unlike happiness, joy is a word we don’t use much today. There is so much official talk (and number crunching) about happiness and well-eing nowadays. ![]()
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