Subject in the Making: Technologies of the Self and Aspirations for a Good Life in Contemporary Denmark.
Margit Anne Petersen, Aja Smith, Dorthe Brogaard Kristensen, Klaus Hoeyer
Medical anthropology January 1, 2022 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1080/01459740.2022.2054716 via PubMed
Summary
Engaging in practices like psychedelic micro-dosing, meditation, mindfulness, and fitness self-tracking helps individuals in Denmark navigate vulnerabilities while pursuing a good life. These activities reflect different self-conceptions but share the goal of managing personal challenges through self-enhancement and relational dynamics. The study highlights how these practices shape individual identities and experiences.
Study at a glance
| Population | individuals in contemporary Denmark |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Transformational practices such as psychedelic micro-dosing, meditation, and fitness self-tracking help individuals manage vulnerabilities while shaping their notions of self. |
Abstract
Coping with crisis is fundamental for human life, but so is the pursuit of everything good and fruitful. We revisit Foucault's technologies of the self as an analytical lens for what people do when pursuing a good life in contemporary Denmark. Comparing three emerging self-improvement domains; psychedelic micro-dosing, meditation and mindfulness, and fitness self-tracking, we explore processes though which individuals become subjects of their own actions. We argue that engaging in these transformational practices produces and reflects different notions of self, yet all involve attempts at managing vulnerabilities by accepting, controlling and balancing tensions between self-making and relation-making.