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ECOLOGY OF EVERYDAY LIFE
The first dimension of differentiative desire represents the desire to
distinguish one’s own identity within, a wider social context. We may let the
third finger of social desire be symbolized by the middle finger, representing
the need to know and express the uniqueness of the self, to uncover one’s
particular efficacy, skill, strength, and potentiality. Differentiative desire rounds
out associative desire by adding a complementary dimension of individuality.
While we each yearn to feel part of a whole that is greater than ourselves, we
also yearn to know and assert a self that is distinct within that greater
collectivity. While associative desire represents a kind of ‘urge to merge’,
differentiative desire represents a crucial ‘urge to diverge’ which allows an
association to remain open to variation, innovation, and difference. Without the
‘urge to diverge’ of differentiative desire, an association is at risk of remaining
static, homogeneous, and stifling.
The idea of differentiative desire could be termed the most Western’ of
the five dimensions of desire. In many cultures of die world people do not
emphasize a notion of a ‘self that is separable from ‘the people’. In fact,
critics of Western societies often identify the idea of an ‘individuated ego’ as
the cause of a lack of social humility and collectivity, qualities which are
often associated with Asian, African, and indigenous cultures throughout the
world. However, particularly within the liberal capitalist West, the idea of an
undifferentiated self has often proven to be anything but liberatory.
Paradoxically, although the idea of individualism is emphasized within the
West, the idea of self-surrender is prominent as well. The fascist and
nationalistic legacy of Europe illustrates the consequences of self-submission
to a hyper-individuated authority or to the ‘people’, or Volk. As social
anarchism demonstrates, Westerners must come to terms with the dangers of
both hyper-individuation and hyper-association—expressions of selfhood
that are equally capable of thriving within hierarchical and authoritarian
societies. Both tendencies are capable of nurturing despotic abuses of and
submission to authority.
Within the liberal capitalist West, association without differentiation
enhances the likelihood of a mass of undifferentiated desires, increasing the
possibility that individuals will join an association whose membership is
predicated on expediency or the submission to religious and political
charismatic authorities. In contrast, the hrge to diverge’ adds a complementary,
liberatory dimension to associative desire which allows the self to be both
collective and distinct. The desire to assert an innovative identity within a given
collectivity allows for an open-endedness that is essential to the development
of individuals and to the collectivity itself.
Feminist psychoanalytic theory has given significant attention to the
potentially complementary relationship between associative and differentiative