dying of symptomatic improvement

I am going to be so very honest in this reflection and say that Global Studies was not one of the focus areas that had initially piqued my interest in studies. However, when I picked a reading, it was my understanding that it was first come, first serve. The readings for equity studies and cultural studies had all already been claimed and I went to the drawing board.

While I was not interested in global studies – I am incredibly interested in transformative change.

I am also incredibly interested in dismantling the Capitalist and Patriarchal systems that we are currently living (or should I say suffering...) under.

I had a challenging time really getting into the fundamentals of Tackling the political economy of transformative change, I had to read it about three or four separate times to start absorbing the information. The article is focused primarily on transformative change as it applies to the environment and sustainability. That there are myths around sustainable practices, and myths about the concept of transformative change.

I love the environment, however, my mind immediately started drawing parallels to how we talk about transformative change within our systems, persons, and communities. In reviewing the scope of global studies, I was quite relieved to see that it was not based on the environment specifically. Instead, it was focused on some of the things that I am passionate about – the inequities in which globalization has affected our systemically excluded communities.

The quote, “if we stick to the same medication that has not attacked the root causes of our illness in the past, then we will indeed be dying of symptomatic improvement, quite literally” (Hausknost para. 7) really stuck with me when I was reflecting on this article.

What we can say about the environment, we can say about persons as well in this case. As we delve into the world and a better understanding of all persons around us, we run the risk of “dying of symptomatic improvement”. My first experience with globalization was in the tenth grade, when the word was thrust upon me with little understanding of what it really means.

With access to technology and the ability to access information much more easily, it has theoretically increased accessibility to information. However, if we consume this information and then do not apply our critical thinking towards solutions, or better practices – then we find ourselves either participating in tokenism or running in circles and not making progress.

Additionally, the commodification of movements has increased. Pride month is one of the most glaring examples of this. The concept of rainbow capitalism is that corporations will sell “Pride” for their bottom line, but fail to do any of the work that would indicate they are inclusive and welcoming for the other eleven months of the year. Ergo, we remain stagnant.

We die of symptomatic improvement.

In this article, I see a focus on environmental studies. In the focus area, I see much more. I see that Global Studies would draw from political science, women and gender studies, Indigenous history and studies, psychology, history – and significantly more. When your focus is globalization and its impact on communities it is hard to not cover a vast majority of studies.

While I was not as engaged with this topic as I am with others, I am delighted that it drew parallels to some of the other work that we have been uncovering. It is fascinating to watch the areas overlap when you take a step back and allow yourself the opportunity to look more broadly.

Hausknost, D. (2019, November 21). Tackling the political economy of transformative change . Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity.