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E-book Embracing Vulnerability : In Search of Communities with a Heart

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Penilaian

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Humans, animals, plants, rivers, air, earth, seas and mountains – robust, strong and resilient – are not indestructible. The survival of nature itself – of which we are a part – however breathtaking, dazzling, over-powering, awe-inspiring and often endearing it may be, cannot be taken for granted. We are threatened by multiple disruptions.I have long argued that we should not avoid life’s all-encompassing fragil-ity but rather embrace it. Fragility, uncertainty, unpredictability, dependence, and porousness, however difficult they often can be, are sources of deep insights. Disruptive experiences bring us into borderlands. They make our vulnerability manifest but also reveal new perspectives and creativity.6Disruptive experiences are part of every life. We are fundamentally rela-tional and vulnerable beings. American philosopher Judith Butler points to our bodies as sites of boundary experiences. “The condition of primary vul-nerability, of being given over to the touch of the other, even if there is no other there, and no support for our lives, signifies a primary helplessness.”7This innate, fundamental helplessness, or openness, or permeability, is nec-essary for us to develop and flourish. We become someone through relation-ships with others and can, therefore, be disowned by others. Experiences of grief and violence make painfully clear how intertwined we are, how mutu-ally dependent on each other’s benevolence. Embracing vulnerability does not come naturally. Disruptive experiences are often accompanied by loss, pain, suffering, and isolation. We enter an in-between place where old certainties no longer exist, and new ones are yet to be discovered, a no-man’s-land full of dangers and risks where we need to find new pathways.8 In Mountain of the Soul [De Berg van de Ziel, 2013] I explored this kind of in-between place with Ada de Jong, who had lost her husband and three children in a mountain accident. Along the way we looked for ways to survive. A painful journey, which at first did not seem to produce much. Exploring the abyss into which her husband and children, along with her own life, disappeared was exceptionally challenging and required a lot of courage. Her courage was perhaps prompted by the fact that the loss involve her children, whom you carry with you even in the darkness of death. Her future had been stolen. Who are you then? Who can you ever become?9Many of my books focus on disruptions affecting individuals. Only later did I turn my attention to disruptive experiences that affect groups or an entire society, or even the whole world. Realities such as Covid-19, climate change, the refugee crisis, growing inequality, and a new war in Europe bring with them disruptive experiences that impact whole groups of people. Old certainties have ceased to exist; new ones have yet to be discovered. Radical uncertainty and chaos are the new order of the day.

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Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

205 ANB e

Penerbit

Netherlands : Radboud University Press., 2024

Deskripsi Fisik

207 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

9789493296732

Klasifikasi

205

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

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Subjek

Religious Ethics

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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