New Books in Critical Theory Daniel Wyche, "The Care of the Self and the Care of the Other: From Spiritual Exercises to Political Transformation" (Columbia UP, 2025)
Jan 17, 2026
Daniel Wyche, a senior scholar at the Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought, dives into the transformative power of ethical self-practices. He connects ideas from Foucault, Audre Lorde, and Martin Luther King Jr. to explore how personal transformation can lead to political action. Wyche discusses the importance of collective organization over mere individual ethics, the complex relationship between power and freedom, and the potential for technology to both liberate and harm. His insights challenge listeners to consider their own roles in societal change.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Punk Scene Shaped His Skepticism
- Wyche recounts his punk/hardcore youth where political identity often became moral policing.
- That scene made him skeptical of retreating into purely moralistic personal politics.
Why Religious Studies Fits This Project
- Wyche situates the project in religious studies to combine philological, historical, and constructive ethical work.
- He seeks interdisciplinary methods influenced by Foucault to study practices across philosophy and religious life.
Don't Let Ethics Replace Organization
- Wyche keeps a Marxist-informed historical-materialist lens to avoid reducing politics to personal morality.
- He warns that ethical self-change alone won't scale without organization and structural engagement.
