[New Book] A Society Without Respect

[Financial News] In a society that evaluates people's worth based on performance and money, where is there room for people to respect one another? Byung-Chul Han, author of The Burnout Society, examines in his new book A Society Without Respect how competition and digital communication are changing human relationships.
The author diagnoses that a performance-driven society, in which people must constantly prove their abilities, breeds contempt for others and self-loathing. He examines how respect, self-esteem and social bonds are eroded by individuals who exploit themselves in pursuit of self-realization and by social networking services (SNS) that fuel comparison and anger.
He finds a clue to coexistence in the way jazz musicians listen to one another and play in concert. He also discusses a “politics of friendship” that recognizes others as independent beings and listens to them. The book views respect not merely as a matter of etiquette, but as a condition that sustains democracy and community.

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