Aneignung statt Resonanz

Hartmut Rosa’s theory of resonance is one of the most popular among the newer sociological theories in German-speaking countries. While sociology with its various approaches refers critically to the term, the applied sciences of the social professions are testing a practical twist on the theory of resonance to make it useful for practice. In this direct practical orientation, Rosa’s theoretical propositions are adopted as a constraint: The critical starting point of the resonance theory is a diagnosis of alienation, which according to Rosa results from the all-encompassing dynamics of acceleration. Instead of addressing this critical diagnosis, the question is hastily posed of how to enable experiences of resonance within one’s own field of practice. The article argues that resonance can only be introduced as a “solution” by contrasting it with an inconsistent term of alienation, which trivializes alienation as foreignness. The societal basis of alienation thereby remains untouched. The article counters Rosa’s trivialized term of alienation with a discussion of the term of alienation: With Karl Marx, the organization of work as wage labor is analyzed as the core of alienation and with Rahel Jaeggi the term of appropriation, which also leans on Marx, is updated as an alternative counter term to alienation. Subsequently, the consequences for social work are discussed. For social work, many difficulties arise from this argument which cannot be solved in one’s own isolated practice as it seeks to help people to cope with heteronomous wage labor circumstances within the alienating society. The article concludes that a critical discourse in the sense of a “public sociology” is needed between those who work in social work and their clients as well as between social work sciences and the public.