Finally from Realisation, Minna Salami on how we can rethink individualism, as something "conscientious and holistic"

Our final teaser for Realisation this weekend is to profile Minna Salami, who is a Perspectiva fellow and author of Sensuous Knowledge, speaking on Friday morning. The video above (from an Adavya video conference in January, alongside Andreas Weber and Charles Eisenstein) contains sections of the topic she’ll be exploring at St. Giles - which is a rethink of individualism.

Below is the blurb from Realisation:

Individualism typically has a negative connotation, and rightly so in that it encourages consumerism and exploitation. But can individualism also guide us toward conscientious and holistic ways of seeing ourselves, each other, and our planet?

And below again, from YouTube (embedded above):

Many narratives around community and kinship have suggested that the notion of the individual is to blame for the collapse of healthy relationships. It is true that the narcissistic individualism peddled by capitalism has wreaked havoc. However it is the "ism" that has caused harm, not the individual.

In fact, attempts to erase the sacredness of the individual create immense harm. When people feel that they are not seen and that their needs don't matter, harm tends to follow. We explore how cultivating a healthy sense of our individuality allows us to become responsible in relationship.

Can we have kinship with ourselves? Nuance is key here - because we are both individuals and we are not. It's a "both/and" situation.

Session 10: Minna Salami: The Illusion of the Individual In social discourse, individualism typically has a negative connotation, and for the right reasons - individualist dogma is both a catalyst and a perpetuator of numerous social ills.

But the individual can also be a symbol of radical progressive change, and the collective a symbol for conformity.

Basically, the notion of the individual is a more paradoxical and complex notion than it is generally assumed to be.

Drawing from examples around the globe as well as from feminist thought, this session will venture beyond the binary to thinking about the individual and the collective in ways that deepen our understanding of kinship and social transformation.