Daniela Di Carlo: Experiencing vulnerability has taught humanity to be a humble observer of history and not just the number one protagonist. This is a long-overdue realization.
by Chiara Savanco
The Theologian shares insights at ‘La Cura’ roundtable discussion
Following the contributions made by Professor Pileri, interesting insights were provided by the theologian Daniela di Carlo, who spoke about the need to reconceptualize human existence based on the creation of meaningful relationships between the human, animal and, plant kingdoms within an interconnected, and interconnecting, environment. Accurately framing the role that theology is to play within this future vision and advocating for the young generations to lead by example, Ms. Di Carlo’s insight proved full of positivity and optimism. An extract of it can be found below.
Daniela di Carlo– theologian
Panelists: As we discuss the climate agenda, we recognize the need to critically engage with the meaning of two terms: fragility and vulnerability. We tend to associate fragility with objects, such as a vase that might break. However, fragility is a condition that can affect live beings, too, when they are subjected to profound changes. Do you have any insights on this?
Daniela Di Carlo: “We have certainly had the chance to experiment with the concept of ‘vulnerability’ on our own skin, during the pandemic, and I dare say that the reason why we have felt it so strongly is that vulnerability so starkly contrasts with the commonly-held idea of humanity as ‘undefeatable’- an idea that is undoubtedly informed by theological theory. Indeed, theology conceptualizes a humanity that is strong, masculine, and predominantly white; a humanity that is able to dominate other forms of animal and plant life. The shock of the pandemic, among others, has been realizing that we, too, are vulnerable- not less so in the western world, which was thought strong and dominant, and yet was deeply revolutionized and transformed by COVID-19.
What we had failed to recognize is that the human, animal, and plant kingdoms are actually all interconnected. While this may sound like a trivial statement, it heralds crucial understandings of our world, starting from how each and everybody’s personal identity is a continuous process of negotiation for whom we want to be, and a result of the complex interconnections that we establish with others. In this process of identity creation, there is a special place for interconnections of a “horizontal” type- that is, with living and non-living entities. Experiencing vulnerability has taught humanity to be a humble observer of history, and not just its number one protagonist. ‘Observers’ in that we have realized how we might be only partially relevant and powerful. This is a long-overdue realization, which hopefully encourages us to reconsider our living habits based on consumption, as well as our ideas of anthropocentrism and androcentrism which (no doubt aided by religion) have led to the creation of the present hierarchical world system, where vulnerability is not just undesirable but deeply despised.
Speaking of ‘fragility’, it has to do with displaying one’s true identity to the people we choose to share our lives and the world. While vulnerability is something that crashes over you, fragility is a more conscious and intimate action. It is a voluntary act to come to terms with our partial and marginal relevance in the world.
I believe that theology has taught us a lot, but I also feel like we have lost a lot of those teachings. Let me give an example: in the Christian religion, Jesus Christ has taught us what it means to be a symbiote. There is a character in the Star Trek saga named Dax who hosts one such symbiote inside her body. Keeping up the analogy, we can say that in real life, this is not an easy condition to obtain; hosting a symbiote requires us to create a new subject that is distinct from the host or the hostess- it is a completely new entity. Within Christianity, Jesus wants us to strive for such a position and learn to establish complex interrelationships with other people, as well as with entities of the animal and plant kingdom. Jesus wants us to become symbiotes to the extent that we learn to respect not just our fellow human beings, but all living kingdoms, therefore going beyond any artificial or cultural barrier. Humanity has created an excellent model of existence, but we have long forgotten how it works; today, we live overwhelmed by current systems founded on hierarchy, where power is of the few and all ‘the rest’ are deemed largely unimportant.
Panelists: What would you personally prioritize in the million-euro spending budget of the PNRR, focusing on the region of Lombardy?
Daniela Di Carlo: With regards to the ‘budget’, I want to stress that the point is not to talk about money or ‘green financing’ as a silver-bullet solution to the environmental problem. The point should be to develop the capacity to see the current situation through new eyes; we must change the way we conceive of the world, the earth, and animal kingdoms, and come to a conscious and true realization of the lack of humanity observable in some of our current practices: intensive animal farming, for instance. Although this is surely a challenging task, I believe that the younger generations have a lot to teach us. Letting my imagination roam free, I would advocate for a department inside Lombardy’s regional administrative body characterized by collective power-sharing; this would encourage our working methods to change, as well as our minds.
Let me clarify: instead of entrusting all the responsibility upon a single individual who cannot, logically, appreciate and act upon all the issues around them, why not create an alternative administrative structure, with a sort of councilor’s office composed of a group of young individuals below the age of thirty? This would give it the capacity to see beyond current practices and extend the scope for action. We must engage in an all-round, comprehensive education to come to terms with the fact that we are all interconnected, and that we should take care, as the female philosopher Donna Haraway used to say, to create relationships and bonds that go beyond blood relations, and are part of a broader process of “making kin”.
By way of example, Donna Haraway reminds us of an experiment conducted to monitor pollution in New York, where pigeons were fixed with sensors to send real-time data measuring pollution, to local scientific centers. This experiment displays a will to put ourselves in close proximity to a living being from another species; it encourages one to acknowledge how important it is to fully embrace our surroundings. More generally, it is an example of how we can build relationships that bring together the human and animal kingdoms within a shared environment. This is a good start, but it alone is not sufficient; we must strive to “make kin”, which means creating relationships with a deep and profound meaning.
This education, or learning process, must be a sweeping one because we require a drastic change in our current ways; some people liken the process of “making kin” to parenthood, arguing that we should strive to care for others much like a parent cares for their child. Hence why I believe that the money devoted to the PNRR should be spent to create something new, a collective body that entrusts people (in this case, younger generations) with the power to teach us something new and to guide us through this learning process which can help us in the “making of kin”. I believe this is what would be conducive to true environmental and social justice.
An additional observation I want to make regarding a different topic- migration: adopting a new vision entails putting an end to the idea of migration as something ‘dangerous’, with the migrant subject being ‘the outsider’. Migration is, and will increasingly be, inevitable; we live in a globalized world where conflict and environmental degradation keep increasing the size of migratory flows. The migrant subject should have the right to free movement, and have the same opportunities that we enjoy; this is why we must work on creating a new world, characterized by the habitual creation of intercultural relationships. It is crucial that this model be expanded to encompass migrants and people arriving from remote areas of our planet, which means that our future will be increasingly fragmented and diverse; this will constitute a great resource, for job markets among other things. Instead of centering the political debate on how to stop migrants at borders, we should be discussing how to better welcome and integrate them, into our national labor forces. This has special relevance for Italy, which greatly lacks the manpower to build a resilient labor market.
Panelists: Who, would you say, has the duty to guide the de-construction and consequent reconstruction of our current living systems [towards a more sustainable ‘vision’]?
Daniela di Carlo: As said, I immediately think about the young generation. In particular, I think about social movements such as the trans-feminist one, composed of women and other subjects; I think this movement displays the willingness to break down social barriers and to engage in the creation of profound interrelationships, as we go forwards. As said, this is absolutely crucial.”
It is definitely comforting to think that the younger generations are already adopting a mindset of change, seeking to build more meaningful relationships with others and with the entities inhabiting our surroundings- let us hope that this will continue and that it will truly be of example in the years to come.
Hopefully, we can retrieve the teachings of theology, as well as become aware that striving to “make kin” is a crucial stepping stone towards a new, sustainable vision. We thank Daniela di Carlo for providing us with this insight.
