Ending on a Negative Note: The Anthropology of Pessimism

Henrik Hvenegaard Mikkelsen

Ending on a Negative Note: The Anthropology of Pessimism

Abstract

This article discusses how anthropological explorations into areas of healthcare can benefit from a focus on pessimism. The ethnographic basis of my inquiry is an extended fieldwork among eldercare professionals in rural Denmark. The point of departure of the article is the observation that the unwillingness of some elderly to engage in programs aimed at improving their “quality of life” is ascribed to an inherent “pessimism”. The elderly’s unwillingness is, viewed through current regimes of health and eldercare, thereby considered illegitimate. Optimism, I argue, is a dominant mode of the way the world of healthcare is construed within current regimes of neoliberal politics—a mode that undergirds even the bleakest narratives of the future. Secondly, the article suggests that reflecting on pessimism has the capacity to elicit new perspectives of relevance to not only anthropology but also to the daily practices of health care professionals.

Originalsprog	Dansk
Tidsskrift	Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
ISSN	1359-0987
Status	Afsendt - jul. 2019

Citationsformater

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