A mute world? On resonance, social responsivity and burnout

Abstract

This article focuses on Hartmut Rosa’s concept of resonance and Johan Asplund’s concept of social responsivity, which are compared theoretically, and with regard to how they are used to describe the phenomenon of burnout. Both concepts describe fundamental human relationships and how we become individuals through interactions with others. The concepts are partly concerned with different analytical levels, where social responsivity is an elementary behaviour, while resonance also includes advanced social behaviours related to the search for meaning in life. In practical use, related to burnout, the concepts have both similarities and differences. Asplund has a narrow perspective on burnout, defined as lost social responsivity, unrelated to exhaustion. Rosa describes burnout as loss of resonance and reciprocity to the world, with exhaustion as a potential cause. Both Rosa and Asplund share a broader sociological analysis of the phenomenon as a consequence of the organization of society. They both express criticism against how it is often managed, where persons with burnout are left to take responsibility for problems outside their control.