Here comes trouble

More about the book

Imagine the infinitesimal size of an atom compared to your human body, then scale up to planets, galaxies, and the solar system. The weight of your body exists between these vastly different scales. This work is not about thermodynamics, negative feedback, or refrigerators, nor does it focus on geology, black holes, or migration. However, these systems provide insights into the complex topic of deviancy. What is deviancy, and what forms does it take historically? I propose that deviancy occupies a ‘morphological arena’ between state changes in thermodynamic, social, and cultural systems. It can be understood as a transformation from one stable state to another, as well as in relation to stability, representing that which deviates from the norm. If ‘attachment breeds suffering,’ as Buddhists suggest, we may view the xenophobic anxiety surrounding ‘alien cultural practices’ as linked to the alienability of contemporary culture. Logically, if I can belong anywhere, I belong nowhere. Through themes of displacement, suspicion, and survival, fear appears irrevocably tied to social deviancy. This work seeks to make the concept of deviancy more ambiguous and to position it as an analytical tool in its own right.