Intervention: call for papers and themes

¶ … Intervention

The notion of 'intervention' has the literal, Oxford English Dictionary meaning of "stepping in or interfering in any affair, so as to affect its course or issue." But its connotative meaning within contemporary culture is more resonant and multivalent in nature. The television show Intervention exemplifies the positive, pop psychology notion of an 'intervention,' in which an individual is saved from an addiction by group of outsiders (usually friends, family, and treatment staff). But many 'interventions' have a negative resonance: more traditional notions of intervention raise questions of sovereignty and legitimacy. At the heart of the conflict between 'good' and 'bad' notions of intervention is the question of autonomy. When is it acceptable and appropriate to impinge upon the autonomy of a human being or of the state? Is it ever moral to not intervene?

Awareness of injustice has increased in the era of Internet-based social networking and communication. Technology has facilitated 'interventions,' connecting individuals and groups across boundaries and facilitating 'interventions' like Occupy Wall Street. Mobile devices can be easily used to capture, post, and disseminate -- via online social media -- images and audio of ongoing protests and to convince others of the moral need to 'intervene,' versus the passive spectatorship encouraged by television shows like Intervention. Public knowledge via the Internet and social media demands the viewer actively become involved, versus being reassured that the problem is taken care of by others in a television program like Intervention.

Moral 'intervention' was called for in the wake of the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The 2008 credit crisis was seen as forcing a financial and social intervention. Both state and non-state actors were called upon to rethink how they allowed markets to govern themselves, and there was a surge of anger against perceived privilege. However, there was a disconnect between the actual (not very radical) policies that were implemented and the raw emotions of people with foreclosed homes and high student debt, suggesting a problem with how political intervention, even by elected officials, is accomplished in a society dominated by powerful financial interests.

Another call for 'intervention' has been witnessed in the form of the environmentalist movement. Global warming is by definition an international problem, continually calling into question notions of sovereignty, given that the decisions of one nation can impact the environmental health of another. The role of international organizations and NGOs to regulate or even influence how the global environment is tended remains hotly-debated.