The Burnout Society

A short essay, first published in German, by a Korean-born philosopher who teaches in Germany. Han argues that each age has its signature illnesses. The twentieth century was shaped by an immunological model, in which threats came from outside, from the foreign and the other, and by Foucault's disciplinary society of prohibitions and commands. The twenty-first century, he claims, is instead an achievement society. Its members are no longer told what they must do but encouraged in what they can do, and they become entrepreneurs of themselves who exploit themselves while feeling free. The result is an excess of positivity, and its typical illnesses are neuronal: depression, burnout and attention disorders. Han criticises multitasking as a loss of deep attention, defends deep boredom as the condition of creativity, and argues for a pedagogy of looking and a restful, shared tiredness, drawing on Nietzsche, Arendt, Benjamin and Peter Handke. Critics find its broad claims more suggestive than demonstrated.

In a few pages it offers a sharp diagnosis of overwork, self-optimisation and exhaustion, and helps readers see burnout as a social as well as a personal problem.