In The Other Side of Empathy, Jade E. Davis contests the value of empathy as an affective or critical tool. Whether focusing on technology, colonialism, or racism, she shows how empathy can obscure relationships of dominance, control, submission, and victimization, arguing that these histories taint the whole concept of empathy. Drawing on digital archives of photographs, memoirs, newspapers, interviews, and advertisements regarding nineteenth-century ethnographic museums and human zoos, Davis shows how empathetic responses erase culpabilities from those institutions that commodify difference. She also contends that empathy's mediation through digital technology cannot lead to more ethical actions, as technology only connects representations of people rather than the people themselves. In empathy's place, Davis proposes mutual recognition as a way to see and experience others beyond colonial modes of empathy. Davis illustrates that moving beyond empathy allows for a more nuanced understanding of the colonial past and its ongoing impact while providing for a more meaningful affective engagement with the world.

About the Author
Jade E. Davis is the Associate University Librarian for Teaching, Learning, and Research at the University of Iowa and an independent scholar.

Reviews
"In this deeply original and thoughtful book, Jade E. Davis takes affect theory into new territory. Her writing makes the reader uncomfortable and curious at the same time, which is rare and wonderful. Dispelling many myths about empathy while executing an innovative stylistic and theoretical model, Davis has written a radical book that will spark conversation, debate, and new directions for research." -- Zizi Papacharissi, author of * Affective Publics: Sentiment, Technology, and Politics *



Book Information
ISBN 9781478025016
Author Jade E. Davis
Format Paperback
Page Count 136
Imprint Duke University Press
Publisher Duke University Press
Weight(grams) 227g