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 as a protest led by Carlo Petrini in 1986 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.

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 Naples, Paris, and Rome.

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.

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.

[10][11] Established as part of the broader slow movement in the 1980s,[10][11] 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.

[12] 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.

[13][14][15] 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".

"[18] 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."

Slow counselors understand that many clients are seeking ways to reduce stress and cultivate a more balanced approach to life.

[20] According to Fast Company: "An unhurried conversation uses a simple process to allow people to take turns to speak without being interrupted.

Instead, it is a reminder of the care needed for full-blooded, empowered community decision making.”[22]: xxiii Examples of slow democracy include: Participatory Budgeting; the Swiss and New England (U.S.) town meeting; Dialogue to Change and Study Circles[23] processes when connected with democratic action, such as the Portsmouth, New Hampshire “Portsmouth Listens” model;[24] and many other participatory democracy models.

… [T]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.”[28]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.

[35] Functional and fashion novelty drives consumers to replace their items faster, causing an increase of imported goods into the United States alone.

Founder Carlo Petrini himself has noted this issue, reflecting on his visit to a California farmers market where the clientele appeared predominantly wealthy.

The movement's focus on pleasure, taste, and consumption patterns has led to accusations of it being more concerned with gastronomic enjoyment than with addressing broader political and economic injustices.

Its key tenets are: low production runs, the use of craftspeople within the process, on-shore manufacturing, and smaller, local supply and service partners.

The slow movement is affecting the concept and planning stages of commercial buildings, chiefly LEED certified projects.

Beginning in 2010, many local Slow Media initiatives formed in the USA[50] and Europe (Germany,[51] France, Italy) leading to a high attention in mass-media.

Slow Money aims to develop the relationship between capital markets and place, including social and soil fertility.

It supports grass-roots mobilization through network building, convening, publishing, and incubating intermediary strategies and structures of funding.

[55] The movement emerged as a response to the ubiquity of digital photography and snapshot culture, emphasizing manual techniques and a deeper engagement with the physical materials of images.

[57] Norwegian photographer Johanne Seines Svendsen, known for using long exposure times and the wetplate collodion process, exemplifies this technique.

[72][non-primary source needed] This movement attempts to counter the erosion of humanistic education, analyze the consequences of the culture of speed,[73] and "explores alternatives to the fast-paced, metric-oriented neoliberal university through a slow-moving conversation on ways to slow down and claim time for slow scholarship and collective action.

Vincenzo Di Nicola's "Slow Thought Manifesto" elucidates and illuminates Slow thought through seven proclamations, published and cited in English,[78][79][80] Indonesian,[81] Italian,[82] and Portuguese,[83] and frequently cited in French:[84][85][86] Notable slow thinkers include Mahatma Gandhi who affirmed that, "There is more to life than simply increasing its speed",[87] Giorgio Agamben (on the philosophy of childhood),[88] Walter Benjamin (on the porosity of Naples),[89] and Johan Huizinga (on play as an interlude in our daily lives).

Critics argue that the movement's emphasis on artisanal and small-scale production can result in higher costs, making it difficult for individuals with lower incomes to participate.

There are concerns that it may prioritize personal enjoyment and aesthetic values over addressing broader social and economic issues.