Event overview
The Political Economy Research Centre (PERC) invites you to the launch event for The Happiness Industry, a new book by Will Davies which asks "how can we de-privatise suffering and rediscover the public nature of joy?"
Happiness today has become an object of measurement, management, optimisation and detection via the body.
It is something that concerns medics, economists and marketers, to be expertly visualised and mapped. While this agenda is not new, it is experiencing a major technologically-driven acceleration right now, diverting political and ethical hopes into an expanding infrastructure of psychological audit and calculation.
Critics of this project have very often sought to dismiss it wholesale, stressing the importance of unhappiness or alienation, as forms of freedom.
But how might one develop a more emancipatory, critical or radical account of happiness, that can re-claim it from the 'happiness industry'? How can we de-privatise suffering and rediscover the public nature of joy?
Addressing these questions will be:
- Will Davies, author of The Happiness Industry: How the Government & Big Business Sold Us Wellbeing
- Lynne Segal, author of Out of Time: The Pleasures and the Perils of Ageing
- Mark Fisher, author of Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures.
The event will be chaired by Alberto Toscano (Goldsmiths).
The Political Economy Research Centre (PERC) at Goldsmiths would like to invite all to attend this event - the formal launch for The Happiness Industry.
It will be followed by a wine reception.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Jun 2015 | 6:00pm - 7:30pm |
Accessibility
If you are attending an event and need the College to help with any mobility requirements you may have, please contact the event organiser in advance to ensure we can accommodate your needs.
