New Books in Critical Theory

Jade E. Davis, "The Other Side of Empathy" (Duke UP, 2023)


Listen Later

In The Other Side of Empathy (Duke UP, 2023), Jade E. Davis contests the value of empathy as an affective or critical tool. Whether focusing on technology, colonialism, or racism, she shows how empathy can obscure relationships of dominance, control, submission, and victimization, arguing that these histories taint the whole concept of empathy.

Drawing on digital archives of photographs, memoirs, newspapers, interviews, and advertisements regarding nineteenth-century ethnographic museums and human zoos, Davis shows how empathetic responses erase culpabilities from those institutions that commodify difference. She also contends that empathy’s mediation through digital technology cannot lead to more ethical actions, as technology only connects representations of people rather than the people themselves.

In empathy’s place, Davis proposes mutual recognition as a way to see and experience others beyond colonial modes of empathy. Davis illustrates that moving beyond empathy allows for a more nuanced understanding of the colonial past and its ongoing impact while providing for a more meaningful affective engagement with the world.

Jen Hoyer is Technical Services and Electronic Resources Librarian at CUNY New York City College of Technology. Jen edits for Partnership Journal and organizes with the TPS Collective. She is co-author of What Primary Sources Teach: Lessons for Every Classroom and The Social Movement Archive.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

New Books in Critical TheoryBy Marshall Poe

  • 3.9
  • 3.9
  • 3.9
  • 3.9
  • 3.9

3.9

138 ratings


More shows like New Books in Critical Theory

View all
The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast by Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

2,089 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

292 Listeners

London Review Bookshop Podcast by London Review Bookshop

London Review Bookshop Podcast

123 Listeners

Jacobin Radio by Jacobin

Jacobin Radio

1,398 Listeners

The Dig by Daniel Denvir

The Dig

1,523 Listeners

Rev Left Radio by Revolutionary Left Radio

Rev Left Radio

3,243 Listeners

Millennials Are Killing Capitalism by Millennials Are Killing Capitalism

Millennials Are Killing Capitalism

419 Listeners

Why Theory by Why Theory

Why Theory

561 Listeners

Politics Theory Other by Politics Theory Other

Politics Theory Other

153 Listeners

Hermitix by Hermitix

Hermitix

339 Listeners

Theory & Philosophy by David Guignion

Theory & Philosophy

339 Listeners

Acid Horizon by Acid Horizon

Acid Horizon

174 Listeners

Guerrilla History by Guerrilla History

Guerrilla History

559 Listeners

What's Left of Philosophy by Lillian Cicerchia, Owen Glyn-Williams, Gil Morejón, and William Paris

What's Left of Philosophy

260 Listeners

Ordinary Unhappiness by Patrick & Abby

Ordinary Unhappiness

200 Listeners