Alter-Nomad: Subversive

Gilles Deleuze was a philosopher. Félix Guattari, a psychotherapist. Deleuze and Guattari’s nomadology [@nomadology] is a work of philosophy first, but it’s also the most thought-provoking work on nomadism. According to their historical analysis, the nomad is a tendency towards deterritorialization, meaning, a movement out of a given identity. Nomadism is not a lifestyle based on mobility, it is a mindset of deterritorialization[@nomadology_definition]: “nothing travels less than a nomad”. This definition completely reinvents the concept of modern nomad, not someone who travels but an individual who is constantly changing, who has no fixed identity. Nomadism is a transgression of values, a practice of non-conformism shoving the establishment throughout history. The Huns contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. The Mongol Empire invaded China. Such lifestyle constituted a rebellion against a mercantile order, a fight against institutions, to keep their freedom. Pirates illustrated it well: they were the embodiment of the ideals of the French revolution - a democratic government and a thirst for freedom transgressing morals. Deleuze and Guattari highlight nomadism as a political statement by describing its non-conformism as “a form of thought that […] does not allow itself to fall through the cracks of institutional forces… a posture based on a mistrust of the powers and mores of an era, a mode of opposition”.

Nomading is fighting against totalitarianism by contributing to a free flow of ideas and human beings, by challenging the banal and the alienating. Wandering is a fundamental impulse of human nature because wandering brings joie de vivre. The Greek god Dionysos tells us that in order for a society to live, apart from (re)production we need something unproductive. Walter Benjamin’s act of strolling opposes a life oriented toward productivism - Frederick Taylor being against idleness in all its forms. This “dionysian effervescence” is a call to return to the animal side residing in everyone to commune with nature. The nomadic lifestyle puts the Myth of Prometheus into perspective: a relativization of a conquering society, against nature, for a scientific development devoid of ethical or ecological concern.

To become an alter-nomad is to become a thinker and a maker, rather than a bystander. The mission is to participate in the realization of a better world: “the nomad attempts to escape the codes (of the highway), the conditions (at a socio-psychological level) and simplistic, locking definitions. But he doesn’t pretend to escape all conditioning. On the contrary, he seeks the best conditions, the best conditioning possible (breathing space, focus space, etc.). He works on himself, never losing sight of both his animal and natural basis”. To change the world, one must incarnate this change.

I’m pretty sure Deleuze would laugh at digital nomadism as it still appears as a cheap low-effort nomadism, fixed in a cultural identity. I believe digital nomadism to have the potential to be the new hippie. In mercantile globalization, being a consumer can be more powerful than being a citizen. Traveling is consuming differently. It is affecting the economy to have a societal impact. Moving is making a life choice, so traveling is deeply political and has the power to become subversive. The nomad has a responsibility in keeping his travels ethical to make it a sustainable and positive manna.