Bayo Akomolafe, a philosopher, writer, and professor, explores the crisis of mastery that plagues our modern world. He dissects the impacts of 'white modernity' and its colonial echoes, urging a reevaluation of what progress means today. Through captivating metaphors, he discusses the importance of minor gestures in challenging systemic issues and how cracks can lead to innovation. Bayo also touches on the themes of belonging, failure, and the transformative power of our collective realities, inviting listeners to dance on the edges of thought and being.
The crisis of mastery reveals how white modernity's colonizing mindset jeopardizes both humanity and the planet due to a destructive quest for control.
Embracing cracks in societal structures allows for innovative disruptions that can lead to transformative change through creativity and collective celebration.
Deep dives
The Crisis of Mastery
The crisis of mastery in the modern world is a central theme in the discussion, illustrating how white modernity has fostered a colonizing mindset that seeks dominance over nature and other cultures. This paradigm equates success with mastery, often leading to destructive relationships with the planet, as exemplified by the ongoing ecological crises resulting from industrial and extractive behaviors. The metaphor of ants endlessly circling without reaching their goal reflects humanity's futile quest for control and certainty in a chaotic environment. The conversation highlights the need to confront these limitations and recognize that the quest for supremacy is ultimately detrimental to both humanity and the earth.
Cracks as Innovators of Reality
Cracks in societal structures represent minor gestures that have the power to disrupt established norms and pave the way for new forms of reality. These cracks are not always visible, but they stem from hidden tensions within the dominant ethical frameworks. For instance, the lived experiences of marginalized communities often reveal underlying fissures that can catalyze transformative change. By cultivating these disruptions instead of merely sealing them, society can explore innovative possibilities that emerge from embracing uncertainty.
The Role of Carnival and Play
Carnival serves as a metaphor for the act of challenging and reimagining societal norms through creativity and collective celebration. This concept emphasizes a form of politics that is not solely focused on outcomes but on the process of embodiment and experimentation. By engaging in cultural acts that subvert authority and highlight the absurdities of societal structures, individuals can create spaces for radical transformation. These moments of play encourage participants to think outside established boundaries and embrace alternative ways of being in relation to one another.
De-Territorializing Our Senses
De-territorializing our senses is essential for reconnecting with the world amidst the pervasive disembodiment of modernity. This process invites individuals to rethink how they engage with their environment and to develop a deeper awareness of their interdependencies with nature and community. By embracing the ineffable aspects of existence and acknowledging the cracks in our reality, we open ourselves to new meanings and understandings of our interactions. This shift in perception can empower transformative practices that challenge the prevailing systems of control and foster restorative relationships with the planet and each other.
Bayo Akomolafe is a philosopher writer, activist, professor of psychology and executive director of the emergence network. He's the author of 'We Will Tell Our Own Story' and 'These Wilds Beyond Our Fences: Letters To My Daughter on Humanity's Search for Home'. Bayo is an extraordinary poet artist, linguistic dancer, who seems to revel at the very edge of thought, holding up fractal mirrors with which we can see ourselves in splendid possibility and wounded reality. He has a way of speaking that invites both the past and the future to pick up the spirit of the present and remind it not to be weighed down by all that it thinks it is.
In this conversation, Bayo talks about the crisis of mastery that we face today: white modernity and the edge of the moral field into which we must dance and play and revolt. He describes cracks as innovation; the pragmatic of the useless; the minor gestures which disrupt; and edge as a place of power. This is a conversation about carnival and bodies, on de-territorialising our senses, on emerging with reality, on relating, and on coming home.
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