Decolonize Self-Care

Decolonize That!

by Alyson K. Spurgas, Zoë Meleo-Erwin

For twentieth-century feminists, it was a rallying cry for bodily autonomy and political power. For influencers and lifestyle brands, it’s buying fancy nutrition and body products at a premium. And it has now infiltrated nearly every food, leisure, and pop-culture space as a hugely lucrative industry.

What is it? To quote a million memes: it’s called self-care.

In Decolonize Self-Care, Alyson K. Spurgas and Zoë Meleo-Erwin deliver a comprehensive sociological analysis and scathing critique of the term’s capitalist, racist undertones. Decolonizing self-care, they argue, requires a full reckoning with the exclusionary, appropriative nature of most of the wellness industry, but this education is only the first step in the process. We must commit to new models of care and well-being that allow for health, pleasure, and community—for everyone.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Philosophy, Politics, Social Justice, Health, Sociology

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Valerie Sherman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good points: The authors are correct that the self-care industry is too white, too focused on self and not focused on community, represents inauthentic views of indigenous culture, and is so expensive that low-income folks can't access it. They argue persuasively that we should focus on caring for each other and marginalized populations.

Bad points: Written more like an academic paper than the more practical critique and how-to that the slim volume suggests. The authors focus narrowly on two aspects of the self-care industry - sex and food - while waving away others, and they offer few practical tips on what to actually do about any of it (there are about 10 pages toward the end on this point). The authors seem to suggest that we should not focus on caring for ourselves until we have dismantled capitalism, which, again, is not practical given the real struggles that all of us, especially the populations most affected by this system, endure daily.

[➸ Gwen de Sade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Das Buch gibt der Leserschaft definitiv einen guten Überblick über all die Bereiche, wo der Kapitalismus mit unterschiedlichen Zielgruppen in das Konzept Selfcare und Wellness hineinspielt, mit sehr viel Raum für eigene Gedanken zu der jeweiligen Thematik ABER es ist so wertend geschrieben, das war teilweise schwer zu ertragen.

[Arianna Cozza · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book because I felt like reading nonfiction (??) so I went to the library and found one that felt interesting to me. Which it was until it got kinda repetitive but definitely some good nuggets in there

[DOCTA JENNA 🍉 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Life got in the way when it came to finishing this book oopppsiiesss… anywho… this book was quite good, i learnt some new things and found some new resources, but as someone who has already been involved in decolonization and organizing initiatives towards liberation, i would say this book is helpful for those interested in starting. The point that really made the book for me was that care will always be collective and self care can and should be a collective effort, especially if change wants to be made. SELF CARE SHOULD NOT BE ENCOURAGING FURTHER CAPITALISM!!!! I do wish though that this book made more of an effort to discuss the impact of the pandemic on self care and capitalism because as someone who was old enough to remember both pre and post pandemic i sensed and will always remember the shift in consumption and the pressure of capitalism. WILL READ AGAIN AND ANNOTATE! :)

[maribelwhatever · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 - Hat sich teilweise angefühlt wie eine (sehr gut ausgearbeitete) Hausarbeit, mit ein bisschen zu viel Fokus aus Ernährung. Mir hat hier noch mehr geschichtliche Einordnungen gefehlt. Um etwas zu dekolonialisieren, müssen wir wissen, wie kolonialisiert wurde/wird.

[Keight · Rating 5 out of 5]

The framework and branding of this series is rather ambitious, as I don’t believe many of the current topics can be decolonized in isolation from the bounds of our colonial cultures. The titles sound punchy but in this case, the book is more an analysis of the racist and capitalist downfalls of some self-care areas (wellness, sex, and diet) with ideas on how we can resist those greater societal influences within them. There is great context here in how the term self-care evolved from Audre Lorde’s original use of it — “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare...” — into the opposite of her usage, sliding into pure self-indulgence, capitalist exploitation, and political apathy. I appreciated the perspective that privileged people should focus less on the “self” and more on the “care,” specifically in how they can provide care to those in their communities who need it most.

[Bry · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I found myself cringing at the tone — but it passed after the first chapter or so. This is probably because I read this as a textbook for a sociology theory class and it reads more accessibly and in-tune with internet lingo kind of vibes.

I really enjoyed it, and have recommended it to some friends.

[ruby · Rating 4 out of 5]

super fun and engaging style grounds the authors' critique of the health and wellness commodification of self-care. just wish more space was given to thinking about what a communal and personal praxis of "more care, less self" can look like!

[Keelin Rita]

This was both illuminating and thought-provoking. I think this is a great resource for people who maybe are aware of the limitations and problems existing in self-care culture, but haven't read anything on the topic (like me!). This covers things like mindfulness, clean/ancestral diets, Goop, and what things you can do to be in line with decolonial self-care efforts. I think if you're someone who focuses on self-care as an act to take care of yourself, this is a worthwhile investment of your time. Not to stop, but to critically engage with what you're doing, what it's rooted in, and what you can do instead (or alongside of).

In general, I highly recommend this series. I think these short books (in both length and stature) are very helpful and very well researched.

[Kim Kapischke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Der Buchtitel würde im Internet als „Claickbait“ gelten. Das Buch wirkt auf mich, als wollen weiße Frauen unbedingt ein noch nicht bearbeitetes Thema finden, dass sie zu Expertinnen (worin?) macht.

Sie vermischen dabei Gender- und Herkunftsdiskriminierung, die gewählten Beispiele beschreiben sehr treffend, wie Rassismus „funktioniert“, der Bezug zur Selfcarebranche wird jedoch nicht gemacht bzw. wirkt sehr erzwungen.
Die gegenwärtige Rassismuskritik wird auf Selfcare übertragen, aber es wird nicht ganz klar, warum. Die Vorwürfe stimmen alle, sie beziehen Selfcare mit ein.
Warum aber genau selfcare dekolonisiert werden muss, wird nicht dargelegt.

Viele Behauptungen werden ohne Belege in den Raum gestellt. So wird z.B. die Sexualterapie zerpflückt und das Thema „Achtsamkeit“ exemplarisch bearbeitet, aber es geht in den analysierten Texten nur am Rande um Achtsamkeit. Der Bezug zur Dekolonisierung ist nicht erkennbar.

Im Laufe des Buches arbeiten sie sich weiter durch aktuelle Trendthemen, um diese allesamt einmal schlecht zu machen (wohlgemerkt wurde einleitend jedoch betont, dass all diese Themen auch in ihrem Leben relevant sind, typisch New Yorkerinnen halt).

Ernährungstrends werden oberflächlich in ihrer Absurdität erläutert, mit dem Fazit, dass gesunde Ernährung eine Frage der finanziellen Möglichkeiten ist und sich viele POC aber ja sowieso gesund ernähren, weil klassische Medizin zu teuer ist.

Das Buch kratzt absolut an der Oberfläche und ist in meinen Augen der Wunsch zwei weißer Frauen, mitreden zu wollen, aber wenig Neues sagen zu können. Es bietet keine Lösungsansätze und enthält keine Stimmen marginalisierter Gruppen.

[Sheena Sood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book last year, and re-read it again this year. Such a powerful read! I am reminded of its relevance and importance to anyone who thinks about the relationship between decolonization and cultural traditions. It’s not only a fun and accessible read, but also feels like a book that so many people who are living in and barely surviving the contemporary era of late-stage capitalism can relate to.

As a sociologist who researches the global weaponization of spirituality and cultural practices like yoga & the imperial and militaristic purposes for which yoga and spirituality are appropriated, this text validates much of my understanding about self-care and colonization – and the self-care industry; and what it truly means to think about decolonizing the self-care industry. The points about how the self-care industry is couched in a neoliberal individualist framework are backed up through examples like Goop.

As well, the analysis the authors share about the self-care and self-empowerment industry’s efforts to incorporate more women, and diversity – or multi-racial faces – into the capitalist marketplace (p. 143) – and their effort to use the language of social and racial justice (and feminism) (p. 22) is important. For instance, they discuss how black- or brown-led self-care organizations are often highlighted not to subvert the unequal structures of these firms, but to incorporate them as a seat at the table. Selfishly, I know my own research benefits from books like this because I have so much to learn from what they share, but also, I think their analysis invites us to think more deeply about decolonization of self-care by inviting us to root healing in more radical forms of collective care.

[are we there yet · Rating 5 out of 5]

The snarky tone may be off-putting to some, but I think anyone who's familiar with the phrase "self-care" is on the internet often enough to not be bothered by it. Kind of curious how many cis-men voluntarily picked up this book actually.

[hollycatherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Julie Aha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr interessantes Thema, viele Denkanstöße und konkrete Ideen für praktisches Engagement. Für mein Empfinden hätte man das Thema kürzer und kompakter darstellen können.

[Tova Petto · Rating 1 out of 5]

giving up on page 80