New Books in Critical Theory Daniel Wyche, "The Care of the Self and the Care of the Other: From Spiritual Exercises to Political Transformation" (Columbia UP, 2025)
Jan 17, 2026
Daniel Wyche, a senior scholar at the Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought, dives into the transformative power of ethical self-practices. He connects ideas from Foucault, Audre Lorde, and Martin Luther King Jr. to explore how personal transformation can lead to political action. Wyche discusses the importance of collective organization over mere individual ethics, the complex relationship between power and freedom, and the potential for technology to both liberate and harm. His insights challenge listeners to consider their own roles in societal change.
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Self-Work Is Inherently Political
- Practices of ethical self-change always negotiate between inward formation and external historical conditions.
- Daniel Wyche argues these self-practices are intrinsically political because selves are constituted by material relations of power.
Punk Scene Shaped His Skepticism
- Wyche recounts his punk/hardcore youth where political identity often became moral policing.
- That scene made him skeptical of retreating into purely moralistic personal politics.
Why Religious Studies Fits This Project
- Wyche situates the project in religious studies to combine philological, historical, and constructive ethical work.
- He seeks interdisciplinary methods influenced by Foucault to study practices across philosophy and religious life.
