The Burnout Society

Introduction

A slim essay published by Matthes & Seitz in Berlin in 2010, which became Han’s breakthrough and has been translated into many languages. Han argues that the twenty-first century is no longer a disciplinary society of prohibitions, as described by Foucault, but an “achievement society” driven by an unlimited “can do”. Its subjects exploit themselves while believing they are free, and its typical illnesses are not infections but neuronal: depression, attention deficit disorders, burnout. Against hyperactivity Han sets “deep boredom” and contemplative attention, drawing on Nietzsche, Walter Benjamin and Peter Handke’s Essay on Tiredness.

Connections

Criticizes

• Discipline and Punish1975 · Michel Foucault