Downstream: Trauma Farming and the Politics of Public Suffering w/ Catherine Liu
Summary
Catherine Liu discusses her book *Traumatized*, arguing that trauma culture commodifies suffering and serves bourgeois interests by replacing class solidarity with individualized identity politics. She traces the origins of trauma to Victorian railway accidents and critiques figures like Oprah Winfrey for turning private pain into public spectacle and brand equity. Liu contrasts this "trauma script" with historical forms of communal suffering, asserting that the current focus on recognition and visibility deflects from material redistribution and the structural inequalities of capitalism.
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