Journal article 58 views 12 downloads
Dynamics of Self-Optimisation: An Introduction
Historical Social Research, Volume: 49, Issue: 3, Pages: 7 - 30
Swansea University Author: Daniel Nehring
-
PDF | Version of Record
This document is made available under a CC BY Licence (Attribution).
Download (642.21KB)
DOI (Published version): 10.12759/hsr.49.2024.22
Abstract
This introduction explores the increasing pervasiveness of discourses and practices of selfoptimisationin present-day societies. These are evident in activities such as self-tracking, fitness training, cosmetic surgery, neuroenhancement, or the consumption of nutritional supplements. The growing app...
Published in: | Historical Social Research |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0172-6404 0172-6404 |
Published: |
Mannheim
GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences
2024
|
Online Access: |
Check full text
|
URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67860 |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
first_indexed |
2024-09-30T14:07:22Z |
---|---|
last_indexed |
2024-09-30T14:07:22Z |
id |
cronfa67860 |
recordtype |
SURis |
fullrecord |
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><rfc1807 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>67860</id><entry>2024-09-30</entry><title>Dynamics of Self-Optimisation: An Introduction</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>ae8d2c719dc7935fbf07d354a2b30dee</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-5346-6301</ORCID><firstname>Daniel</firstname><surname>Nehring</surname><name>Daniel Nehring</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2024-09-30</date><deptcode>SOSS</deptcode><abstract>This introduction explores the increasing pervasiveness of discourses and practices of selfoptimisationin present-day societies. These are evident in activities such as self-tracking, fitness training, cosmetic surgery, neuroenhancement, or the consumption of nutritional supplements. The growing appeal and diffusion of these various practices testifies to the overall cultural attraction of self-optimisation, which is a multifaceted phenomenon. Against the dominant interpretation of self-optimisation as mainly driven by the logic of maximisation and growth, we argue that it can also be about minimalism or balance. At the same time, self-optimisation is strongly connected to dynamics of power andsocial inequality, potentially reinforcing existing social inequalities and creating new forms of domination and control. The paper starts by charting the existing research and theoretical approaches to self-optimisation, presents the contributions to the special issue, addresses a set of key domains of selfoptimisation (therapeutic culture, health and well-being, digital technologies, work, and economy), and finally draws conclusions and suggests some avenues for future research.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Historical Social Research</journal><volume>49</volume><journalNumber>3</journalNumber><paginationStart>7</paginationStart><paginationEnd>30</paginationEnd><publisher>GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences</publisher><placeOfPublication>Mannheim</placeOfPublication><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>0172-6404</issnPrint><issnElectronic>0172-6404</issnElectronic><keywords>self-image; optimization; therapy; health; well-being; power; social inequality</keywords><publishedDay>30</publishedDay><publishedMonth>9</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2024</publishedYear><publishedDate>2024-09-30</publishedDate><doi>10.12759/hsr.49.2024.22</doi><url>https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/96862</url><notes>https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/96862</notes><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Social Sciences School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>SOSS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>Not Required</apcterm><funders/><projectreference/><lastEdited>2024-10-10T11:45:56.6516643</lastEdited><Created>2024-09-30T15:00:13.2232500</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences</level><level id="2">School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Anja</firstname><surname>Röcke</surname><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Daniel</firstname><surname>Nehring</surname><orcid>0000-0002-5346-6301</orcid><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Suvi</firstname><surname>Salmenniemi</surname><order>3</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>67860__32577__1aba2ca35738471892308c4d3c914409.pdf</filename><originalFilename>67860.VoR.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2024-10-10T11:41:57.8604184</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>657626</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>This document is made available under a CC BY Licence (Attribution).</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807> |
spelling |
v2 67860 2024-09-30 Dynamics of Self-Optimisation: An Introduction ae8d2c719dc7935fbf07d354a2b30dee 0000-0002-5346-6301 Daniel Nehring Daniel Nehring true false 2024-09-30 SOSS This introduction explores the increasing pervasiveness of discourses and practices of selfoptimisationin present-day societies. These are evident in activities such as self-tracking, fitness training, cosmetic surgery, neuroenhancement, or the consumption of nutritional supplements. The growing appeal and diffusion of these various practices testifies to the overall cultural attraction of self-optimisation, which is a multifaceted phenomenon. Against the dominant interpretation of self-optimisation as mainly driven by the logic of maximisation and growth, we argue that it can also be about minimalism or balance. At the same time, self-optimisation is strongly connected to dynamics of power andsocial inequality, potentially reinforcing existing social inequalities and creating new forms of domination and control. The paper starts by charting the existing research and theoretical approaches to self-optimisation, presents the contributions to the special issue, addresses a set of key domains of selfoptimisation (therapeutic culture, health and well-being, digital technologies, work, and economy), and finally draws conclusions and suggests some avenues for future research. Journal Article Historical Social Research 49 3 7 30 GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences Mannheim 0172-6404 0172-6404 self-image; optimization; therapy; health; well-being; power; social inequality 30 9 2024 2024-09-30 10.12759/hsr.49.2024.22 https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/96862 https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/96862 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University Not Required 2024-10-10T11:45:56.6516643 2024-09-30T15:00:13.2232500 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy Anja Röcke 1 Daniel Nehring 0000-0002-5346-6301 2 Suvi Salmenniemi 3 67860__32577__1aba2ca35738471892308c4d3c914409.pdf 67860.VoR.pdf 2024-10-10T11:41:57.8604184 Output 657626 application/pdf Version of Record true This document is made available under a CC BY Licence (Attribution). true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
title |
Dynamics of Self-Optimisation: An Introduction |
spellingShingle |
Dynamics of Self-Optimisation: An Introduction Daniel Nehring |
title_short |
Dynamics of Self-Optimisation: An Introduction |
title_full |
Dynamics of Self-Optimisation: An Introduction |
title_fullStr |
Dynamics of Self-Optimisation: An Introduction |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dynamics of Self-Optimisation: An Introduction |
title_sort |
Dynamics of Self-Optimisation: An Introduction |
author_id_str_mv |
ae8d2c719dc7935fbf07d354a2b30dee |
author_id_fullname_str_mv |
ae8d2c719dc7935fbf07d354a2b30dee_***_Daniel Nehring |
author |
Daniel Nehring |
author2 |
Anja Röcke Daniel Nehring Suvi Salmenniemi |
format |
Journal article |
container_title |
Historical Social Research |
container_volume |
49 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
7 |
publishDate |
2024 |
institution |
Swansea University |
issn |
0172-6404 0172-6404 |
doi_str_mv |
10.12759/hsr.49.2024.22 |
publisher |
GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences |
college_str |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
hierarchytype |
|
hierarchy_top_id |
facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences |
hierarchy_top_title |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
hierarchy_parent_id |
facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences |
hierarchy_parent_title |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
department_str |
School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy |
url |
https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/96862 |
document_store_str |
1 |
active_str |
0 |
description |
This introduction explores the increasing pervasiveness of discourses and practices of selfoptimisationin present-day societies. These are evident in activities such as self-tracking, fitness training, cosmetic surgery, neuroenhancement, or the consumption of nutritional supplements. The growing appeal and diffusion of these various practices testifies to the overall cultural attraction of self-optimisation, which is a multifaceted phenomenon. Against the dominant interpretation of self-optimisation as mainly driven by the logic of maximisation and growth, we argue that it can also be about minimalism or balance. At the same time, self-optimisation is strongly connected to dynamics of power andsocial inequality, potentially reinforcing existing social inequalities and creating new forms of domination and control. The paper starts by charting the existing research and theoretical approaches to self-optimisation, presents the contributions to the special issue, addresses a set of key domains of selfoptimisation (therapeutic culture, health and well-being, digital technologies, work, and economy), and finally draws conclusions and suggests some avenues for future research. |
published_date |
2024-09-30T11:45:55Z |
_version_ |
1812523547686338560 |
score |
11.033506 |