The Ascetic Imperative in Culture and Criticism

Harpham, Geoffrey Galt

doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226316901.001.0001

Cited by 114 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…However his assertion that the condition of late modernity requires a uniquely reflexive self does not hold up when we consider Weber's work on the ascetic, Foucault's work on technologies of the self employed in pre-Christian times, nor when we consider the historical record regarding social movements in other times and places (Calhoun 1995). It seems that Harpham (1987) may be right, in that asceticism is sub-ideological, and is expressed differently in different historical epochs and cultural settings. In what Giddens' calls "late modernity", anarcho-environmentalists embrace a secular asceticism in order to challenge the technological rationality of the system.…”

Section: Contemporary Secular Asceticismmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The essential features of asceticism are selfdenial, self-observation and self-criticism (Weber 1968:541-551;Harpham 1987). In this paper, I use the term asceticism in a loose sense, as I am not describing a religious group, but a political one.…”

Section: Ascetics-athletes Of Virtuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Once a member, a more systematic patterning of life therefore compounds and exaggerates their critique of society on moral grounds. Harpham (1987) argues that asceticism is always about resistance, as it contains a binary form: on the one hand it rejects the world, and on the other it seeks to transform the world's wicked ways.…”

Section: Ascetics-athletes Of Virtuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Calhoun (1995) clearly articulates how features of 'new social movements' such as the politicization of everyday life, the importance of identity, autonomy and self-realisation, the use of unconventional means, and the importance of self-exemplification were also part of nineteenth century movements, that is, in 'early modernity'. Weber's sociology of religion shows that a revolutionary desire to transform the world through the rigorous application of virtue has its roots in asceticism, which according to Harpham (1987) is universal to all cultures. Foucault's work on the Genealogy of Ethics also suggests that what he terms 'technologies of the self', namely "reflection on modes of living, on choices of existence, on the way to regulate one's behaviour, to attach oneself to ends and means", was prevalent in the philosophical activity during the Hellenistic and Roman period (1997:89).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Anarcho-Environmentalists

Shepherd

2002

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article explores experiences of environmental activism from the viewpoint of members of a radical environment group. It is based on data collected during eight months of participant observation and through semistructured interviews with ten core members and two ex-members. Working on personal feelings, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (self-work) was central to the strategy for social change employed by this group. Drawing on Weber's sociology of religion, this article explores the way the high expectation the activists had of themselves matched Weber's typification of the rationally active ascetic. It is argued that asceticism is an enduring element of Western culture that takes different forms in response to historical conditions. In this case, we see a form of secular asceticism that responds to the conditions of late modernity.

show abstract

Section: Contemporary Secular Asceticismmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Ascetics-athletes Of Virtuementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ascetics-athletes Of Virtuementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Anarcho-Environmentalists

Shepherd

2002

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Harpham (1987), for instance, emphasizes this relation by defining asceticism as 'any act of self-denial undertaken as a strategy of empowerment or gratification' (xiii), the essence of which is narratability of this act within a culture as performance. The archetypal ascetic narrative, hagiography, for instance, 'documents a class of people trying to achieve complete narratability' (Harpham 1987: 73).…”

Section: Religious and Cultural Views Of Asceticism And Askēsismentioning

confidence: 99%

Askēsis and organizational culture

Halsall

Brown

2012

Organization

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article makes the case for the contribution of the cultural theory of Sloterdijk and the tradition of philosophical anthropology on which it is based to an understanding of the processes of culture formation in organizations. Rather than see culture formation as the model of an autonomous self which sacrifices or gives up this autonomy as a result of identification with the organizational culture, or retains it by resisting or distancing from the culture, the article argues that we should see organizational selves as engaged in processes of askēsis, understood as 'systems of spiritual exercises, … practised in collectives of personalised regimes' (Sloterdijk 2009: 12), the aim of which is the fulfilment of the imperative 'you must change your life!' (Sloterdijk 2009). The article illustrates the application of the theory to the formation of 'secessionist' cultures, cultures devoted to the pursuit of radical ascetic aims, by outlining the mechanisms of askēsis in contemporary organizations: the splitting of the self into 'willing' and 'unwilling' elements which are in constant 'endo-rhetorical' dialogue; the imitation of exemplars of ascetic behaviour, or the 'perfectionist vita'; 'conversion' to the organizational culture, whether as a sudden experience or as a gradual process, and organizational cultures understood as 'cultures of observance', the aim of which are to encourage the employee to scrutinize habitual behaviour and change this behaviour in line with the ideals of the secessionist culture. The end point of askēsis is reached when the employee conceives organizational life itself as a continual 'test' of commitment and will.

show abstract

Select Bibliography

2003

The Emergence of Monasticism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Ascetic Imperative in Culture and Criticism

Cited by 114 publications

References 0 publications

Anarcho-Environmentalists

Anarcho-Environmentalists

Askēsis and organizational culture

Select Bibliography

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About