The Weight of the Ordinary: Berlant’s Chilling Diagnosis of Life in Permanent Crisis

There is a weariness that defines modern life, a bone-deep exhaustion that feels both intensely personal and strangely universal. We treat it as a private failure—a lack of discipline, poor time management, a failure to optimize. But what if this pervasive fatigue is not a personal problem, but a political condition?

Cultural theorist Lauren Berlant offered a radical diagnosis: our exhaustion is a collective experience, a quiet but profound refusal shaped by the relentless pressures of a system that promises a ‘good life’ it can no longer deliver. This is the story of how the simple act of enduring, of just getting by, has become a defining political act in an age of permanent crisis.

Theoretical Framework

Conceptualizing Exhaustion

Exhaustion serves as a critical lens through which to examine the intersection of individual agency and structural forces in contemporary society. It designates not only the depletion of physical and psychological resources but also reflects broader social, political, and ecological crises that individuals navigate daily. As Berardi (2012) asserts, exhaustion embodies an apocalyptic sentiment that permeates the individual and collective life-world, marking a shift from a culture centered on energy to one beset by its depletion due to various systemic pressures, including economic competition and environmental degradation.

The society of achievement and activeness is generating excessive fatigue and exhaustion.

Byung-Chul Han

The Politics of Exhaustion

The politics of exhaustion arises from the recognition that traditional forms of resistance—such as protests or strikes—may not be viable for those burdened by systemic inequalities and daily survival demands. Instead of actively opposing dominant structures, individuals engage in a form of endurance that prioritizes survival over confrontation. Bayat (2000) highlights how marginalized groups often fulfill their needs discreetly rather than through overt collective action, illustrating a form of agency that exists outside the parameters of conventional political participation. This perspective shifts the focus from resistance to endurance, suggesting that the dynamics of power in the current epoch require a re-evaluation of what constitutes political action. The exhausted individuals are characterized not by their inability to act but by their strategy of navigating the oppressive conditions imposed upon them, thus reframing exhaustion as a collective affective glue that can bind individuals in shared experience, even if it also leads to isolation (Han, 2015).

Endurance and Its Implications

Endurance, as defined by Povinelli (2011), encapsulates the capacity to suffer yet persist, which is increasingly relevant in discussions of contemporary social dynamics. Individuals experience multiple layers of suffering, ranging from economic precarity to systemic discrimination, all of which contribute to a state of exhaustion that can hinder long-term activism and engagement. This endurance can be viewed as a mode of resistance in itself, where the act of continuing to exist and strive for better conditions becomes a political statement in the face of overwhelming adversity. Furthermore, as Schaffner (2016) posits, while concerns about exhaustion are not new, our contemporary age uniquely links anxieties surrounding personal, societal, and environmental sustainability. The interconnectedness of these issues compels a broader understanding of how exhaustion shapes not only individual lives but also collective futures, framing a potential foundation for a new political landscape rooted in shared experiences of survival and resilience.

Key Themes

Affective Politics and Social Friction

Lauren Berlant’s work interrogates the intersections of affect and politics, emphasizing the notion of “cruel optimism,” which describes the way attachments to unachievable aspirations can hinder social progress and individual well-being. Berlant posits that the pressure of societal norms often results in biopolitical inconveniences, magnifying social friction and complicating the navigation of everyday life. In her analysis, she highlights how individuals grapple with these pressures, leading to a heightened awareness of their own expendability and emotional degradation within capitalist structures.

The Role of Genre in Theorization

Berlant calls for the invention of new genres to better articulate the complexities of contemporary experience, particularly in relation to the “new ordinary” shaped by ongoing crises. She critiques existing theoretical frameworks, arguing that they may be inadequate for capturing the nuances of social and emotional realities.