Critical Hedonism(s): Transcending Toxic Wellness Culture

​A booming wellness industry sells us hopes of health, happiness, success and self-optimization. As critics point out, the wellness sector is unjust in a variety of ways: it sells commodified, individual solutions to societal problems, making unacceptable societal conditions tolerable for those who have the most agency and sway; it involves the unjust exploitation of labor and resources, as poor and vulnerable populations are employed to care for the wealthy; and it tends to moralize wellness within an “achievement society,” where health, mindfulness, “clean eating,” emotional regulation and other ostensibly positive outcomes are treated as moral virtues (and their opposites as moral failings)—to be hoarded by the wealthy and the professional-managerial classes. Is the notion of wellness inherently flawed, or might we reimagine wellness as a more equitable, shared, sustainable, and collectively-managed resource?

​CFITICAL HEDONISM(S) is a free and open-to-the-public discussion space for exploring and interrogating topics, prompts, and questions pertaining to the politics of desire. The starting point of Critical Hedonism(s) is the realization that an essential part of changing the world is changing what we want, aspire for, and take pleasure in. Monthly discussions like this one offer a crucial method for understanding how desire is organized in our culture, and how it might be organized differently. We explore the injustices of desire, the ways in which it is used to manipulate, motivate and stratify, and how it is shaped by institutions. We also explore the inherent challenges of hedonism, and consider what kinds of frameworks could be used to mediate our relationship with it. For more about Critical Hedonism(s), see https://www.criticalhedonisms.com