Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

Metamorphizing the Neoliberal Hydra: Creating Non-Scalable Modes of Living

Humans are teetering on the edge of a climate crisis. There is an urgent need for social change. However, alternative—and dare I say radical—modes of living are often proposed only to be commodified and absorbed into the corporate-capitalist market through recuperation. The aim of this presentation is to present a model of creating new modes of living that can spark social change and be used to metamorphize the neoliberal system without being absorbed into it through processes of recuperation. The proposed model is one of wayfaring and experimentation—it’s organic. People across space develop multiple different adaptive strategies (i.e., new modes of living) and these “pioneers of social evolutionary paths” pave the way for others through their creative speculation and experimentation. Where a certain alternative mode of living is successful, it spreads because it is seen as creating a higher quality of life than the neoliberal system that preceded it. In addition, to avoid commodification through recuperation these alternative modes of living must also be inherently non-scalable. In other words, they must lack the ability to “expand without changing their framing assumptions” (Tsing 2015). Making systems non-scalable involves minimizing precarity, emphasizing community, and strengthening attachment to place. Geographic friction, energy consumption, and instrumental reason will also need to be addressed.