Slow movement (culture)
The slow movement is a cultural initiative that advocates for a reduction in the pace of modern life, encouraging individuals to embrace a more thoughtful and deliberate approach to their daily activities.
It was an offshoot of the slow food movement, which began in 1986 as a protest led by Carlo Petrini against the opening of a McDonald's restaurant in Rome's Piazza di Spagna.
The key ideas of the slow movement include prioritizing quality over quantity, savoring the present moment, and fostering connections with people and the environment. It encourages a more intentional approach to daily activities, promoting sustainable practices and mindfulness. The movement spans various domains such as food, cities, education, fashion, and more, advocating for a balanced and holistic lifestyle that resists the fast-paced demands of modern society.
Initiatives linked to this movement include the Cittaslow organization to promote slowness in cities, most notably Rome, Naples, and Paris. Car-free days and banning Vespas to reduce urban noise are a few initiatives.
Origins
The slow movement is a cultural movement which advocates slowing down the pace of human life. It emerged from the slow food movement, and Carlo Petrini's 1986 protest against the opening of a McDonald's restaurant in the Piazza di Spagna, Rome.Geir Berthelsen's The World Institute of Slowness presented a vision in 1999 for a "slow planet".
In Carl Honoré's 2004 book, In Praise of Slow, he describes the slow movement as:
Norwegian professor Guttorm Fløistad summarises the philosophy, stating:
Beliefs
Art
Slow Art Day was founded by Phil Terry and officially launched in 2009. During one day in April each year, museums and art galleries around the world host events focused on intentionally experiencing art through "slow looking". The movement aims to help people discover the joy of looking at art, typically through observing a painting or sculpture for 10–15 minutes, often followed by discussion. The Slow Art Day team publishes an Annual Report each year on its website, which features a range of events hosted by art institutions.Ageing
Slow ageing is a distinct approach to successful ageing, advocating a personal and holistic positive approach to the process of ageing. Established as part of the broader slow movement in the 1980s, as opposed to the interventionist-based and commercially backed medical anti-aging system, it involves personal ownership and non-medical intervention options in gaining potential natural life extension.Cinema
Slow cinema is a cinematography style which derives from the art film genre. It aims to convey a sense of calculated slowness to the viewer. Slow films often consist of a resistance to movement and emotion, a lack of causality and a devotion to realism. This is usually obtained through the use of long takes, minimalist acting, slow or inexistent camera movements, unconventional use of music and sparse editing. Slow cinema directors include Béla Tarr, Lav Diaz, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Abbas Kiarostami, Tsai Ming-liang, Andrei Tarkovsky and Theo Angelopoulos.Cittaslow
Cittaslow International states its mission as "to enlarge the philosophy of Slow Food to local communities and to government of towns, applying the concepts of ecogastronomy at practice of everyday life". It seeks to improve the quality and enjoyment of living by encouraging happiness and self-determination. Cittaslow cities use the concept of globalization to prevent the impending globalization of their cities. Lisa Servon and Sarah Pink observe that, "The case of the Spanish Cittaslow towns offers a particular example of how towns can actively exploit the interpenetration of the global and the local. In these towns, a local–global relationship has emerged in ways that enable controlled development and the maintenance of local uniqueness."Consumption
Tim Cooper, author of Longer Lasting Products, is a strong advocate of "slow consumption", and is quoted as saying, "The issue to address is what kind of economy is going to be sustainable in its wider sense, economically, environmentally and socially." Saul Griffith introduced "heirloom design" during a February Greener Gadgets conference in 2009. He notes a lasting design, the ability to repair, and the option of being modernized to advocate slow consumption. Legislation, alternative options, and consumer pressure can encourage manufacturers to design items in a more heirloom fashion.Counseling
According to some, recent technological advances have resulted in a fast-paced style of living. Slow counselors understand that many clients are seeking ways to reduce stress and cultivate a more balanced approach to life. Developed by Dr. Randy Astramovich and Dr. Wendy Hoskins and rooted in the slow movement, slow counseling offers counselors a wellness focused foundation for addressing the time urgency and stress often reported by clients.Conversation
According to Fast Company: "An unhurried conversation uses a simple process to allow people to take turns to speak without being interrupted. Everyone agrees at the start that only the person holding a chosen object is allowed to talk. Once the speaker has finished, they put the object down, signalling that they have said what they want to say. Someone else then picks up the object and takes their turn. Each speaker can respond to some or all of what the previous speaker said, or they can take the conversation in an entirely new direction."Unhurried Conversations is a term used by the author of Unhurried at Work Johnnie Moore, about how people can work together at a speed that makes the most of their human qualities.
Democracy
Slow democracy describes local governance models that are inclusive, empowered, and centered on deliberative democracy.Described by Susan Clark and Woden Teachout in their book Slow Democracy, the concept parallels the Slow Food movement’s call for authenticity in food production, and highlights decision-making models based on authentic community involvement. Clark and Teachout note:
“Slow democracy is not a call for longer meetings or more time between decisions. Instead, it is a reminder of the care needed for full-blooded, empowered community decision making.”Examples of slow democracy include: Participatory Budgeting; the Swiss and New England town meeting; Dialogue to Change and Study Circles processes when connected with democratic action, such as the Portsmouth, New Hampshire “Portsmouth Listens” model; and many other participatory democracy models. The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation serves as a network for many scholars and practitioners of slow democracy.
Slow democracy inspired the Living Room Conversations organization co-founded by Joan Blades, because slowing down to consider how we characterize “the other” is crucial to democratic engagement and to peacebuilding.
Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig writes that, like slow food, slow democracy is:
“a strategy for resisting what we know would be most tempting but what we have learned is both empty and harmful. … he slow democracy movement says that we should do politics in particular contexts, not because those contexts can’t be hacked or will never be poisonous, but because it’s just harder to hack them or make them poisonous.”Scholars of dialogue and deliberation have expressed concern that increased online and face-to-face communication can lead to information overload, but incorporating slow democracy processes featuring listening and reflection can improve the experience. Proponents of community-led housing cite slow democracy as integral to their place-specific development efforts.
Education
As an alternative approach to modern faster styles of reading, such as speed reading, the concept of slow reading has been reintroduced as an educational branch of the slow movement. For instance, the ancient Greek method of slow reading known as Lectio, now known as Lectio Divina, has become a way of reading that encourages more in-depth analysis and a greater understanding of the text being read.Though the method is originally of Christian monastic origin, and has been used primarily as a tool to better understand the Bible, its technique can be applied in other areas of education besides the study of theology.
Fashion
The term slow fashion was coined by Kate Fletcher in 2007. "Slow fashion is not a seasonal trend that comes and goes like animal print, but a sustainable fashion movement that is gaining momentum."The slow fashion style is based on the same principles of the slow food movement, as the alternative to mass-produced clothing. Initially, the slow clothing movement was intended to reject all mass-produced clothing, referring only to clothing made by hand, but has broadened to include many interpretations and is practiced in various ways. Functional and fashion novelty drives consumers to replace their items faster, causing an increase of imported goods into the United States alone. It was reported by the Economic Policy Institute that in 2007, the U.S. imported six billion dollars' worth in fashion articles.
Some examples of slow fashion practices include:
- Opposing and boycotting mass-produced "fast fashion" or "McFashion"
- Choosing artisan products to support smaller businesses, fair trade and locally made clothes
- Buying secondhand or vintage clothing, and donating unwanted garments
- Choosing clothing made with sustainable, ethically made or recycled fabrics
- Choosing quality garments that will last longer, transcend trends, and be repairable
- Doing it yourself: making, mending, customising, altering, and up-cycling one's own clothing
- Slowing the rate of fashion consumption: buying fewer clothes less often