“As the archaeology of our thought easily shows, man is an invention of recent date. And one perhaps nearing its end.” - Paul-Michel Foucault
A consequence of COVID-19 (for the privileged few who can afford self-preservation in these times), is quarantining ourselves at home. If you are anything like me, the pressure to accomplish more now, in the absence of extraneous ‘obstacles’ like running in a park, is overbearing. Not to be too dramatic, but each second I spend not learning a new skill, not researching more or not writing as much as I had hoped to, sends my self-worth spiralling into the void.
In 1961, Foucault laid out a trajectory of the changing European societal norms regarding ‘madness’ in his text Madness and Civilisation. He critically analyzes the replacement of leprosy with madness in the Middle Ages and the subsequent treatment of the latter across themes of labour, economy, and power. In this way, Foucault traces the increasing structural complexities intertwined with this individual experience. In this text, the concept of The Great Confinement became an important process that laid the foundation for continuing perception of two seemingly exclusive experiences - madness and idleness.
Where today the societal moralities and interpretations of madness are strictly associated with isolated clinical explanations, the 17th century associated madness with poverty and unemployment, i.e., idleness. That is to say, such individuals who represented the shortcomings of a quickly developing capitalist system that thrives on inequality (an ironic antithesis of some of the ideas that were developing during this period - individual freedom and equality), were confined to institutions in the fringes of the society, literally. For example, Foucault identifies the Hospital General of 1656, Paris, to be a foremost “semijuridical and administrative structure,” containing these immoral, unemployed vagabonds. This was further supported by the formation of nation states with modern cities, which defined the overall economic infrastructure and functioning. This furthered the economic basis of the classic modern dichotomy - Reason versus Unreason. The latter consisted of those who failed to uphold the normative work ethic, due to which they were thrown into correctional institutions, which soon transformed into labour intensive chambers. Furthermore, such societal moralities were backed by modern laws and executed by power structures/administrations, such as the police. Thus, the unemployed, unproductive poor who were found loitering around, disturbing the stasis of the European societies, were rounded up and confined in these fringe institutions where correction involved expediting their labour power for economic development. This would kickstart individual productivity, thereby transforming them into acceptable members of society.
Now four centuries, outer space colonization, and irreversible capitalism later, we have somehow retained this norm of idleness. In recent times, COVID-19 has pushed a substantial portion of the workforce indoors.The historically determined link between self-development through production quickly caught up with those ‘working from home.’ That is to say, the degree of productivity in this otherwise private space, now needs to be parallel with an earlier professional space. In fact, there’s been an increasing focus on the impact working from home has had on productivity and self-worth.With specific focus on academia, reports suggest that dramatic changes - shutting down of labs, transitioning to online teaching and struggling to determine adequate translation of previous face-to-face teaching, and parental roles - have strongly affected ‘productive writing’ amongst academics. Furthermore, it has been observed that there has been an increase in the research submitted by men in academia as opposed to their female counterparts.Citing an inability to set aside time to complete research work and following through with gendered parental roles, mothers in academia have been held back from being productive.
Undoubtedly, even though quite a few of us took certain productivity vows, we find ourselves divorcing from them. There’s an increasing focus on the stressful circle of procrastination, its negative effects on productivity (identifying this behaviour has idleness) which in turn negatively affects self-worth. As is evident from the current self-care narrative on social media, this premature burnout due to a shared experience and a perceived lack of control has impacted individuals’ self-worth, thereby adding to the current global burden of mental illness.
Yarshna Sharma