Capitalism is not only based on labour exploitation, but it has also “seized the vital forces of the people at their very roots” (Karl Marx). Adopting the Chinese concept shengminli or vital force (self-managed capacity to act, including responding to the environment and adjusting the self), Xiang will explore how feeling, attention, and human energy in general are exploited, and why love and care can be revolutionary.
Born and raised in China, Xiang Biao is a Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. He was Professor of Social Anthropology at Oxford before he joined MPI in 2021. He has worked on migration and social changes in China, India, and other parts of Asia and is currently exploring a “common concerns” approach in social research.
In English
Organized by
Alina-Sandra Cucu and Ruth Ramsden-Karelse
Image credit: © Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
