Regenerating imagination: Steps towards a pedagogy of desire

Abstract

In the society of hyper-consumption, the lack that lies at the heart of desire has been manipulated by capitalist rhetoric, reframing it as a void to be filled. Processes of seduction and standardisation of desire contribute to a pervasive condition of dissatisfaction and incompleteness, subjecting younger generations to the imperatives of perfectionism, the constraints of anxiety, and the compulsions of consumerism. At the root of this phenomenon lie the mechanisms of construction and saturation of the imaginary, which cause the atrophy of the imaginative faculty and the deterioration of the relationship with otherness. These dynamics particularly affect teenagers, whose horizons of meaning and future-oriented projects appear weakened by narcissistic retreat and existential uncertainty. From a pedagogical perspective, the relationship between desire and the imaginary is of crucial importance: the imaginary constitutes the core of meaning upon which desire is anchored and takes form. It is therefore urgent to develop educational pathways aimed at regenerating the imaginative faculty, with the goal of reigniting desire and restoring passion, creativity, and authenticity in the lives of adolescents and youth.