CBEES Annual Conference 2025 Keynote: From Ignorance to Apathy and Rage – Renata Salecl

Join us for a keynote lecture by Renata Salecl at the CBEES Annual Conference 2025. The event will be held in a hybrid format, with participation possible on-site and online.

Abstract

Over the past decade, the relationship between knowledge and subjectivity has undergone a profound transformation. The unprecedented circulation of information in the digital sphere has not led to a greater understanding but has instead intensified ignorance, disinformation, and conspiracy theories. These epistemic shifts are inseparable from affective ones: apathy and rage increasingly define the emotional landscape through which knowledge is received, contested, and rejected.

This lecture examines the psychic and political dimensions of this transformation. It examines how apathy serves as a defence against the constant stream of negative information and the pervasive sense of alienation characteristic of late modern societies. In such conditions, indifference often emerges not as simple disengagement but as a symptom of exhaustion - a form of withdrawal that shields the subject from the excess of crisis and demand.

Particular attention will be devoted to the transformations of apathy in post-socialist Eastern Europe. The transition from socialism to capitalism not only restructured economies and institutions but also reshaped emotional and symbolic life. Apathy, once linked to resignation under ideological constraint, has in many contexts been replaced by disillusionment within a competitive, individualistic order. The psychic costs of this transformation continue to mark the region’s political culture and public sphere.

The lecture will also address the renewed social power of envy in the context of populist politics. Right-wing movements across Europe have mobilised envy and resentment to channel discontent against imagined elites or marginalised groups, thereby converting economic and existential insecurity into moral outrage.

Finally, the discussion will turn to anger as an ambivalent but potentially transformative emotion. While rage can easily be appropriated by reactionary forces, it can also be reoriented toward solidarity and collective responsibility. The concluding part of the lecture will consider the conditions under which anger might transcend ressentiment and become a productive force for social and political change.

Bio

Renata Salecl is a philosopher, sociologist and legal theorist. She is a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and a Professor at the School of Law, Birkbeck College, University of London. Her books, which have been translated into 20 languages, include A Passion for Ignorance: What We Choose not to Know and Why (Princeton UP, 2020), Tyranny of Choice (Profile Books, 2011), On Anxiety (Routledge, 2004), and (Per)versions of Love and Hate (Verso, 1998). Renata’s work has been presented at TED Global. In addition to her scholarly work, she has published catalogue essays on artists Francis Bacon, Jenny Holzer, Anthony Gormley and Sarah Sze. She is also active in the civil initiative “Airspace tribunal,” which is engaged in the initiative to propose a new human right to protect the freedom to live without physical or psychological threats from above. Currently, Renata is working on the question of apathy, burnout and disaffection in today’s society.