Refusal
Bartleby (1853):
I would prefer not to.
Anthropologist Carole McGranahan on refusal (2016):
To refuse is to say no, but, no, it is not just that. To refuse can be generative and strategic. A deliberate move toward one thing, belief, practice, or community and away from another. Refusal illuminates limits and possibilities, especially but not only of the state and other institutions.
Jenny Odell in Saving Time (2023):
Refusal may start in you but cannot end in you. It must be spoken, in messages, in magazines, in forums, and off-hours, in an ongoing “reehearsal.” In summoning a world, it is the most creative thing you could possibly do.
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About Robert Wringham
Robert Wringham is the editor of New Escapologist. He also writes books and articles. Read more at wringham.co.uk
“I would prefer not to.” Is there a more beautiful arrangement of five words in the English language? I haven’t gotten around to reading Jenny Odell’s Saving Time, but How to Do Nothing is so beautiful and compelling–perhaps a top 3 book in that space.
I just finished Saving Time and will review it for the next issue. It’s not as good as How to Do Nothing, but that was a hard act to follow. How to Do Nothing was a book of the decade really.