Sofia Ulver: We must stop klappjakten for the climate's sake

Sunday's front page of Danish newspaper Politiken debattdel covered by a satirteckning with a character that yells ”Klimatsvin!” towards the sky, or rather against aircraft and their passengers. The text on the inside of the magazine are not just an flygresandets absurd carbon footprint, but also the destructive julklappshysterin. Just as we take for granted to be able to travel anywhere in the aircraft – just like that! – have the increasing the holiday shopping season has become a tradition.

In at least 70 years, the Swedish debaters, the priests, the philosophers, sociologists, journalists, multi – ondgjort about how the spirit of christmas commercialization distracts us from the ”real” purpose, from genuine relationship-building, and in recent years, from respect for the planet's finite resources. Ondgörandet has with time become as floskelartat as chitchat about the weather, with the intriguing difference that in the case of a non-natural phenomenon which costs huge amounts of resources.

to compromise away klappjakten that ”it's tradition”, ”it's the coziest moment of the year” or, the excuse that excuses everything, ”it is for the children's sake”. From a historical point of view, it is a delusion, but we have locked the us into it and cannot see a way out for all of the christmas decorations.

An explanation of the anthropologist Marcel Mauss, the undisputed most cited gåvoforskaren, who in the 1920s explained how the principles surrounding gifts spread in archaic societies. According to the principle of överglänsande was a condition for generosity is that each gåvoutbyte would be surpassed in the next stage of the receiver would not undermine the purely symbolic.

Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

In today's market economy society is this överglänsande often in the vicinity of a fir tree, where we all, as market experts decodes prylarnas value. And if we consider the julklappsutdelningen as a ritual, our eyes become vulnerable to this spiral of överglänsande. Julklappsgivandet is, to our ideals, however, despite a utbytesceremoni that balances and because of our people-to-people positions. Via the exchange of christmas gifts is preceded by internal and external negotiations around how much is reasonable to give to this particular person, but also how much we expect them to give this year.

by Mauss's idea of reciprocity; that every gift implies an imaginary but expected gengåva. Beyond high thoughts about our own generosity is an implied quid pro quo, no matter how much we insist on the opposite. But because we ourselves have created julklappstraditionen we should be able to renegotiate these criteria long before christmas is on the doorstep – a cheaper gift must not signal ”you mean less to me now than you did last year.”

Against this renegotiation is at the same time, a resistance, an explicit consensus on klapptraditionen is sacred and authentically generous to their character. In the same way as the marriage contract has a avromantiserande effect, seems to be a gåvotak in julkontraktet as to spit on the Jesubarnets the crib. It is a love feast!

There are a few occasions where our generosity is put so clearly in relation to others ' generosity, signs of love, and expectations, which in julklappsöppningen. Our love is tested in the moment when the other is the unfolding of inslagspappret – the registry of the emotions that are revealed in people's faces around this usually low (soff)table is a study in socialization. Hidden disappointment or uncontrolled elation – the gift value is decoded in the recipient's face in a millisecond.

Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

julklappstraditionen can be perceived as a violation of the order and harmony. We are carried away rather in what the French 1800-talssociologen Gabriel Tarde called the imitative waves. We become overwhelmed by the desire and the conviction to follow the wave as it washes through the body in the form of christmas sensory flavors and fragrances, musical jingles and signalfärger. This continues the commercial sphere, not least trade, stubbornly holding us tightly in your hand through the entire feast. The only thing we can do to not get carried away with is to try to go against the wave.

the Sociologist Johan Asplund, who passed away earlier in the autumn, wrote beautifully and clarification on the small, everyday ceremonies where we become aware of who we are in relation to each other. Not until we go against the stream and do something quite unexpected – that to not respond to a greeting or omit to take with us to christmas gifts – we are breaking this implied order. The risk is that we will be called hostile or insane. And who wants to be a galenförklarad on the same christmas eve?

Julklappshysterin should be able to be liquidated if underglänsande becomes the new black, if the donor remains anonymous (because who would then be motivated to outshine?), if we could strengthen ourselves and resist the emotional wave until it has engulfed over, and if we dared to break the tysthetspakten and go to the negotiating table (despite the fact that it is low).

the major paradigm shifts in the past. The pagan midvinterblotfirandet was replaced by christianity in the 1100's and the christian christmas gave way to the konsumistiska Disney-orchestrated christmas in the 1940s and forward. The crucial difference is of course that we can't wait for the klimatgoda christmas in 840 years, and therefore, the Policy satirteckning and the text of the claims may be needed in acute skambeläggning.

It is possible that the christians condemned the gentiles who gudsföraktande ”barbarians”, to the secular efterkrigskonsumenterna ridiculed the congregation as a superstitious ”tokstollar” and that this ran on the transitions. Whether it fiercely provocative epithet ”klimatsvin” would be able to cheer up with a new paradigm shift or just polarize further is more unclear. Certainly, however, klimatsvinet as tankefigur is comical adequate for övermåttets destructive christmas.

Read more: Sofia Ulver: very little suggests that we are suffering from klimatångest