Forelesning

Posthuman Ethics of Care for Fashion

Abstract

In this lecture I develop a posthuman ethics of care for fashion by rethinking clothing not as passive commodities but as vibrant material assemblages that entangle human bodies, labour, technologies, and planetary resources. Drawing on new materialism and posthuman theory, I argue that fashion sustainability requires a fundamental epistemic and ethical shift, with care as its guiding value. Care is reconceptualized beyond human-centred ethics to encompass the non-human world—materials, technologies, ecosystems, and waste. Drawing on Pedwell’s concept of “revolutionary routines”, I will argue that meaningful change emerges through everyday practices of care, supported by collective action and political structures. A posthuman ethics of care offers a necessary framework for reimagining fashion as an ethical practice oriented toward a sustainable future.

Bio

Anneke Smelik is emerita Professor of Visual Culture and Fashion Studies at the Radboud University Nijmegen. She has published widely in the fields of fashion, cinema, popular culture and cultural memory. Her most recent book publications are the second and expanded edition of Thinking Through Fashion: A Guide to Key Theorists, with Agnès Rocamora; and The Four Elements of Fashion, with Alessandra Vaccari. She is co-editor of the journal Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty. She is currently writing a short monograph on Iris van Herpen for Anthem Press.

Forelesningen er arrangert i samarbeid mellom avdeling Design ved fagområdet Klær & Kostyme og masterprogrammet Screen Cultures ved Institutt for Medier og Kommunikasjon ved Universitetet i Oslo.