An Ecology of Moralizing

A participative lecture & workshop by Kilian Jörg (and Alexis Shotwell, in absence)

Have you ever felt you are moralizing whether you wanted it or not? When you stood out as an example in ecological behavior or just made an irritated face at a racist or sexist comment? Morality and moralizing have for the longest time been perceived as the purview of the conservatives and the pursed-lips privileged prude. It was used against us queer and progressives. But in recent times this seems to have changed. Conservatives are more and more panicking about what they perceive as “woke” moralizing and scolding. Furthermore, fascist movements such as Trumpism can be understood - in part - as motivated by a rebellion against this perceived moralizing. How did we get there? Is it actually bad to talk about what would be a good way to live together?

We want to stay with the cringyness of moralizing impulses and explore what somatically takes place in us, inbetween us and around us if we moralize - or decide to not moralize. Thinking with movies like “Pride” (in which building morale is an essential part of coalitions between coal miners in the countryside and queers in the city), we want to think about the role of moralizing in our society. We want to speculate about more inclusive forms of building mores (=the etymological root of morals meaning something like “customs”) together to build a more open and resisting society in times of rising fascism and moral depravity of the capitalist elite. In this workshop, we want to discuss personal experiences with moralizing - whether good or bad and propose a queer project of building morale through better understanding and practicing moralizing.

Baumgartner Höhe 1, 1140 Wien (Otto Wagner Areal, Gebäude C)
Free admission
Language: English