Living in an Age of Survival: Viral Fragments from Trump to Covid

It's impossible to grasp the extraordinary political and social changes that unfolded during the tumultuous years from 2016-2021. From Trump through the ongoing Covid pandemic, anxiety reigned. The period heralded an implosion of the psyche, as techno-capitalism fostered a culture of alienation, divisiveness and conformity from the complexity of lived experiences. Living in an Age of Survival chronicles this period in the process of its unfolding.

James Batcho moves through the USA, Thailand, China, Taiwan and South Korea as he screens the emergence of a frightening, reactionary politics. Key issues of our time-science, religion, social media, ecology, inequality, State control-are explored through readings of Nietzsche, Deleuze, James, Beauvoir, Arendt, Han and others. Resisting conformity to the binaries of Democrat vs. Republican, the author instead offers a series of nascent fragments to critique and antagonize the failing strategies of liberalism.

Embracing the virtues of artistic expression, sensation and "difference," Living in an Age of Survival is an impassioned plea for vital, radical creativity in how we contribute, individually and collectively, to our shared futures.