Byung-Chul Han: Without Respect, Gebunden

Klappentext

In this book, Byung-Chul Han dissects the dramatic decline of a central social virtue: respect. What was once the foundation of coexistence is now threatening to disappear in a society characterised by narcissism, competition and digital overload.

With his characteristic wit and acuity, Han analyses the neoliberal meritocracy that turns individuals into lone fighters who hate themselves and despise others. The struggle for respect becomes a struggle for status in which everyone is in competition with everyone else - there is no community spirit or solidarity to hold them together. In social media, the struggle for respect is waged as a struggle for attention, and lack of recognition in social media is experienced as social rejection and exclusion. Han shows how respect, self-esteem and social bonds are interwoven - and how their loss leads to a molecular civil war that eats away at society from within.

Han does not stop at criticism: he out lines a vision for a new politics of friendship, for a respect-based coexistence based on distance, attention and mutual recognition. For Han, respect is not a luxury but rather a prerequisite for democracy, public discourse and a successful and fulfilling life.