Hanne De Jaegher: Enaction: An Engaging Epistemology: Varela International Symposium 2022 (2 of 8)

Hanne De Jaegher explores the enactive view (introduced by Ezequiel Di Paolo here) in the context of social justice by investigating the following questions: Why do we human beings keep gathering? How do we, together, participate in sense-making? And how do we experience our particular, unique, ever-changing, interactions with each other? Have you ever asked yourself why we can’t just solve the world’s problems, go home, and be at peace? It seems that after all this time we’d have it figured out. According to Hanne De Jaegher this would only be possible if we stopped the process of changing, of becoming. To interact with others is to change. In Hanne’s words, “As soon as we look at each other, interact, there is struggle. There is restlessness. Peace would only happen if we somehow locked ourselves away from each other, but we actually can’t not be in contact with each other.” The question, then, is how do we interact well together? From the enactive perspective, this can only be known through lived experience, which is what it means to say that enaction is an engaging epistemology. It does not reject the theoretical, but insists that theory and practice must inform each other. In terms of social justice, this means that, yes, we need to work for change on the systemic level (affirmative action, fair wages, etc.), but also on the level of particular, embodied interactions. There needs to be a cultivation of awareness of and sensitivity to our environment—otherwise, how could we really know how to live well together? In Hanne’s words: “It’s not just about increasing diversity, but increasing sensitivity. It’s about opening to real engagement.” To access the resources page for this program, please sign up by clicking here. For Program/Series description and to access the entire series, please click on the link below: Upaya Podcast Series: Varela International Symposium 2022