A Bureau For Self-Care: Individualism

01/10iLianaÊFokianakie-flux journal #119 Ñ june 2021 Ê iLianaÊFokianakiA Bureau for Self-Care: Interdependence versus IndividualismA Bureau 23.21 / 12:15:06 EDTIt feels like I am talking to you from the future, orthe past, because the present is like acontinuous, monotonous screeching sound. Ihave begun to believe I must be an extra inGroundhog Day. I am writing to you from a selfmade office. My small, jerry-rigged desk,approximately sixty centimeters in length, ismade from a metal shelf. We have been confinedto the house for about five months now, with veryfew days when measures have been loosenedand weÕre allowed greater freedom. We have totext the government every time we leave thehouse.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊLiving in a small flat in a pandemic with yourpartner and dog means reconceptualizing thearchitecture of your domestic environment. Iwork in a corner that was formerly occupied byplants, and the plants are now in front of awindow, which I guess is better for them. Theplants are in an altered state of orgasmic growth,taking over walls, growing immense roots thatspread out wildly on the floor, obstructing themovement of our dog but also giving her shelterand shade on sunny days. She is happier, calmer,and more eager to learn new tricks. Perhaps ourcontinual presence has provided a more diligent,meticulous type of care for both dog and plants.Our nonhuman kin are thriving in this space ofconfinement, whereas the humans feel not onlycramped, but very uncertain about the future.Our collective closeness, however, has changedthe relations of care within the space. Thehumans here are discovering a new purpose:prioritizing care Ð care for others as well asourselves. In fact, caring for others changes theway one cares for oneself. Care and self-carebecome interdependent.States of ChangeThe pandemic has altered the state of so manythings: the state of relationships, the state ofmovement. Zooming out of my own personalconfinement, I think of the large-scale thingsthat have changed: the way nation-statesfunction, the way care systems for wholesocieties work, the way citizens conceive of theirliberties and responsibilities. Such changes havemade it necessary to place care at the forefrontof conversations, locally and internationally.However, states and societies remain trapped intechnocratic discussions about legislativemeasures, vaccination campaigns, and thedistribution of services and funds. I would like tofocus on self-care through a reading of thecollective, distinct from the general notion ofself-care as concerning individuals (an act foroneÕs self).ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊThe pandemic has shown that when itcomes to providing care for those who care forus, we have a long way to go. Millions of care

02/10Libia Castro & îlafur îlafsson,ÊIn Search of Magic:ÊProposal for a New Constitution for The Republic of Iceland, 2020.ÊView of polyphonic performancedemonstration,ÊReykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik«s city centerÊandÊAusturvšllurÊSquare, Iceland.ÊWalking with the work:ÊLibia Castro & îlafur îlafsson and TheMagic Team, 2010 National Assembly Note:ÊDO NOT BULLSHIT YOURSELVES AWAY FROM THE RESULTS OF THE CONSTITUTIONALASSEMBLY,Ê2020.ÊPhoto:ÊOwen Fiene.Ê06.23.21 / 12:15:06 EDT

Self-Care, Gardening, Gurus, andNeoliberalismI have recently written about the roots of care,picking up on its linguistic, philosophical, andsociopolitical genealogy and its connection tothe idea of curare, the Latin word that meansboth Òto cureÓ and Òto care.Ó1 This connectionbetween care and healing, including the curativerelationship to the self, is found in many ancientcultures Ð for example, ancient Egypt with itsadvanced medical practices. The ancient Greeksborrowed medical knowledge and techniquesfrom Egypt and mixed them with their owntraditional folk healing practices. The belief thatcare for oneself is paramount to living a good lifecan be found in the Greek mantra νοῦς ὑγιής ἐνσώματι ὑγιεῖ (Òthe body can only be healthy ifthe mind isÓ). Many cultures have drawn aconnection between mental and physical health.Qi Gong, an ancient Chinese practice ofmovement, breathing, and meditation that aimsto improve both mental and physical health, hasbeen practiced in China since the fifteenthcentury.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊFrom Egypt to Greece and China, weencounter the human need to preserve anddevelop knowledges of self-care. In the MiddleAges, these knowledges were preserved bymedieval monasteries in northern Europe, whichmaintained gardens full of curative herbs. Theonly surviving major architectural drawing fromthe Middle Ages Ð the plan of the Monastery ofSt. Gall (dated between 820Ð830 AD) in what isnow Switzerland Ð demonstrates the importance06.23.21 / 12:15:06 EDT03/10e-flux journal #119 Ñ june 2021 Ê iLianaÊFokianakiA Bureau for Self-Care: Interdependence versus Individualismworkers have been on the ground trying to holdus all together. Yet the primary way we haveacknowledged this work is by clapping frombalconies. However moving this display hasbeen, it doesnÕt begin to do justice to theimmense sacrifices these workers have made forthose of us with the privilege to stay home.Healthcare workers, funeral home workers,couriers, and many other workers haveendangered their own lives for others, and haveput their self-care aside. It is crucial to recognizethat care work is gendered, racialized, andtypically delegated to the precarious classes.The communities who do not enjoy whiteWestern privilege or wealth are those whoprovide the majority of care for those who do,while receiving disproportionately little carethemselves. For those of us in safer positions,the first act of care we can offer these workers isto simply recognize the privilege of being able tostay inside and care for ourselves and our lovedones. In what follows I will flesh out the historyand politics of self-care in relation to communitycare, and argue that self-care should beconsidered a collective project.of herb gardens during those times. The planshows that the gardens were included in themedicinal section of the monastery alongside aninfirmary, a physicianÕs house, and a bloodlettinghouse. Until the industrial revolution, this type ofgarden was extremely popular, cultivated not justin monasteries and manors but also in peasantcommunities. In other words, before the arrival ofindustrial capitalism, the cultivation of herbgardens was a practice of collective care andcuring that was accessible and open to almostanyone.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊWith the industrial revolution, curing andcaring for oneself took an individualist turn: itbecame a private affair for the privileged. Selfcare was turned into a sign of culturalsophistication for the Western imperialist class,and looking after your own well-being wasframed as the individualÕs obligation towardssociety. This warped notion of self-care isexemplified by Victorian Britain, where it waswidely propagated through the work of SamuelSmiles. Smiles was a Scottish political reformerand author of the 1859 book Self-Help; withIllustrations of Character and Conduct.2 Alifestyle guru before lifestyle gurus existed,Smiles was hailed in his time as the epitome ofVictorian liberalism. His book proposes that anyman can become anything he wants as long as hedoes not depend on others. As historian AsaBriggs writes:Relying on yourself was preferred morally Ðand economically Ð to depending on others.It was an expression of character evenwhen it did not ensure Ð or indeed, not offerÐ a means of success. It also had socialimplications of a general kind. Theprogressive development of societyultimately depended, it was argued, not oncollective action or on parliamentarylegislation but on the prevalence ofpractices of self-help.3This focus on the individual is fundamental to thefounding of the United States. A 2017 papertitled ÒFrontier Culture: The Roots andPersistence of ÔRugge

maintained gardens full of curative herbs. The only surviving major architectural drawing from the Middle Ages — the plan of the Monastery of St. Gall (dated between 820—830 AD) in what is now Switzerland — demonstrates the importance of herb gardens during those times. The plan shows that the gardens were included in the