CB2 1UR, UK
Polity Press
101 Station Landing
Suite 300
Medford, MA 02155, USA
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3422-7
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Reckwitz, Andreas, author. | Pakis, Valentine A., translator.
Title: Society of singularities / Andreas Reckwitz ; translated by Valentine A. Pakis.
Other titles: Gesellschaft der Singularitäten. English
Description: Cambridge ; Medford, MA : Polity, [2020] | “First published in German as Die Gesellschaft der Singularitäten © Suhrkamp Verlag Berlin 2017”-- Title verso. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | In English, translated from the original German. | Summary: “In this major new book, Andreas Reckwitz examines the causes, structures and consequences of the society of singularities in which we now live”-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019033278 (print) | LCCN 2019033279 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509534227 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509534241 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Social change. | Individualism. | Culture. | Postmodernism.
Classification: LCC HM831 .R425 2020 (print) | LCC HM831 (ebook) | DDC 303.4--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019033278
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019033279
Typeset in 10.5 on 11.5 pt Times New Roman MT
by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL
Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Limited
The publisher has used its best endeavors to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.
Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.
For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com
Acknowledgments
Although books seem to stand on their own in the cultural sphere, they are in fact nodal points within networks and are made possible by infrastructures. This book, too, owes much to many. Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to present the building blocks of this work at many conferences and workshops held at various universities and institutions. Without exception, these presentations led to lively debates with colleagues, both known and unknown to me, whose advice and objections improved this book considerably. Special thanks are due to the members of my research colloquium and my department at the Viadrina European University in Frankfurt an der Oder. I would like to mention in particular those who took the time to read the manuscript in whole or in part: Martin Bauer, Michael Hutter, Hannes Krämer, Jan-Hendrik Passoth, Hilmar Schäfer, and Klaus Schlichte. Stefan Wellgraf provided me with many helpful references for Part V. I am indebted to Wiebke Forbrig, Julien Enzana, and especially Moritz Plewa for their reliable research assistance and for their help in preparing the manuscript for publication. Eva Gilmer at the Suhrkamp Verlag edited my original German text with her usual authoritative and critical eye. The early stages of my research on this topic were facilitated by a fellowship from the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Freiburg, and this book never could have been written without the generous assistance of the Volkswagen Foundation, which supported my research with its “magnum opus initiative” during the years 2015 to 2017. Heartfelt thanks to everyone!
Introduction: The Proliferation of the Particular
Wherever we look in today’s society, what has come to be expected is not the general but the particular. Rather than being directed toward anything standardized or regular, the hopes, interests, and efforts of institutions and individuals are pinned on the unique and singular.
Travelers, for instance, are no longer satisfied with the uniform vacation destinations associated with mass tourism. Instead, it is the uniqueness of a location, the authentic atmosphere of a particular city, an exceptional landscape, or a particular local culture that piques the interest of tourists. And this is only one example among many, for this development has encompassed late modernity’s entire global economy. In the case of both services and material goods, the mass production of uniform products has been replaced by events and objects that are not the same or identical for everyone but are rather intended to be unique – that is, singular. People have thus become passionate about extraordinary occasions such as live concerts and music festivals, sporting events and art shows, but also about lifestyle sports and the imaginary worlds of computer games. The so-called ethical consumer has developed discerning tastes for different types of bread and coffee in a way that had previously, at best, been typical of wine connoisseurs. Instead of buying a new sofa “off the rack” (so to speak), many people prefer to search for a vintage piece, and a brand such as Apple offers not only the latest technology but a whole environment that is attractive and unique, and that the user would be unwilling to trade for any other. Finally, various forms of psychological treatment offer tailored therapeutic or spiritual services.
More and more, the late-modern economy has become oriented toward singular things, services, and events, and the goods that it produces are no longer simply functional. Instead, they also – or even exclusively – have cultural connotations and appeal to the emotions. We no longer live in the age of industrial capitalism but in that of cultural capitalism.1 This has profound consequences for the professional world as well. Whereas industrial society focused on clearly defined formal qualifications and performance requirements, in today’s knowledge and culture economy the working subject has to develop a “profile” that is out of the ordinary. Now those who achieve, or promise to achieve, something extraordinary – something far above average – are rewarded, while employees who perform routine tasks lose out.
Without a doubt, the economy sets the pace of society, but by now the shift from the general to the particular has taken place in many other areas as well – for instance, in education.2 Unlike 20 years ago, it is no longer enough for schools successfully to teach the curriculum required by the state. Every school has and wants to be different, has and wants to cultivate its own educational profile and provide pupils (and their parents) with the opportunity to forge a unique educational path. And parents, at least those in the educated middle class, regard their individual children as people whose particular talents and characteristics should be fostered and encouraged.
