Measured Lives: Theoretical Psychology in an Era of Acceleration

Two dominant forces in contemporary capitalist societies are the conception of humanity as something measurable and the quest for acceleration, efficiency, and optimization. Such rationalistic ideals are characteristic of our work practices, but also intertwined in our analogue and digital social relationships and everyday lives. This may be a crucial part of increasing productivity, but the values and forms of governance emerging from the ethos of acceleration and efficiency may also play a role in inducing human suffering and in structuring that suffering as ‘new pathologies’ (e.g., stress, depression, fatigue, anxiety). Moreover, it seems obvious that manualization and standardization practices conflict with the complexity of human becoming, community and subjectivity in everyday life. Clearly, psychology is itself implicated in fragmented and contradictory ways, but as yet, there has been little reflection on the impact of these forces on psychological knowledges and practices or on how psychological knowledges and practices may serve the forces of acceleration.  What then can theoretical psychology contribute to the issues that arise in an “Era of Acceleration”?  

Questions with relevance to theoretical psychology include:

• If, or when, efficiency is becoming agential and technologically governed in the fields of psychological practice, including education, clinical and therapeutic work, health services, and social work, how should the resulting standardized practices, theories, and lives be understood?
• What is the role of psychological theorizing and research practices in the face of this quest for speed, efficiency and documentation?
• Is it time to develop counter-cultures that emphasize the complexity, emotionality, ludicity, and irrationality of human existence, culture, and everyday life?
• Is this “Era of Acceleration” an academic construct far from real lives and therefore not in fact a central problem? 
• Can, or should, a community of theoretical psychologists produce resistance, reflections, counter-concepts, and counter-practices that challenge rationalistic and reductionist views on humanity, everyday life and research practices?

The 18th conference of the International Society for Theoretical Psychology invites scholars to submit proposals that contribute to discussion and reflection on this debate.  We also welcome submissions on other topics in the field of theoretical psychology.