The minimal self in a room of mirrors

Abstract

The text seeks to critically reflect on some contemporary social phenomena, strongly intertwined, notably the contemporary trends of entrenchment and flattening of the self; the reinforcement of iconomania and the compulsive production of self-avatars, amid digital narcissistic bubbles, created by recent information and communication technologies; and the virtual destruction of intimacy and privacy, given the emergence of digital panopticons and algorithmic surveillance. To this end, we take as a starting point propositions presented by Christopher Lasch in his work “The Minimal Self: Psychic Survival in Troubled Times”, originally published in 1984, in particular the very notion of minimal self, which are then intertwined with arguments from Christophe Dejours, Günther Anders, Theodor Adorno, Hebert Marcuse, Jonathan Crary, among others. In addition, we seek to highlight the anchoring of these processes in today's dynamics of capital accumulation, based on the critique of political economy, a perspective that runs throughout the text, as well as highlighting the relevance of Lasch's thinking.