Abstract We are obsessed with the specter of disaster and we seem to be living in catastrophic times. Since the events of 9/11, we exist in a state of high alertness and live with the constant awareness of threats of global proportion. Terrorism, war, and forced migration, ecological instabilities and economic uncertainty, all contribute to an atmosphere of heightened anxiety. On the one hand, this situation has caused an increased desire for security and resulted in urgent calls for more assertive political measures that do not rarely threaten to weaken our constitutional rights. On the other hand, we have responded by adapting to a rhetoric of survival that informs our cultural imagination and guides our individual reactions to an alarming growth of contingency in our lives. From the success of TV-series to Giorgio Agamben's thoughts on the state of exception, this essay traces and analyzes the pervasive language of survival in popular culture and critical theory. I argue that "survival" must be seen as a central term for understanding how we conceptualize our lives in face of a perceived constant threat, and what this means for our responses to disaster and catastrophe. Against the background of recent events such as the refugee crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, this essay offers a discussion of the (bio)political consequences of a society that increasingly imagines its own reality as one of survival.

中文翻译：

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“每个人都做到了，直到他们没有”：作为隐喻的生存

摘要 我们沉迷于灾难的幽灵，我们似乎生活在灾难性的时代。自 9/11 事件以来，我们一直处于高度戒备状态，并始终意识到全球范围内的威胁。恐怖主义、战争、强迫移民、生态不稳定和经济不确定性，都加剧了焦虑的气氛。一方面，这种情况导致人们对安全的渴望增加，并导致紧急呼吁采取更加果断的政治措施，这些措施通常不会威胁到削弱我们的宪法权利。另一方面，我们通过适应生存的修辞来回应，这种修辞会影响我们的文化想象，并指导我们个人对生活中意外增长的惊人增长做出反应。从电视剧的成功到乔治·阿甘本 本文基于对例外状态的思考，追溯和分析了流行文化和批判理论中普遍存在的生存语言。我认为，“生存”必须被视为一个核心术语，用于理解我们在面对持续存在的威胁时如何概念化我们的生活，以及这对我们对灾难和灾难的反应意味着什么。在难民危机和冠状病毒大流行等近期事件的背景下，本文讨论了一个越来越将自己的现实想象为生存的社会的（生物）政治后果。必须被视为一个核心术语，用于理解我们在面临感知到的持续威胁时如何概念化我们的生活，以及这对我们对灾难和灾难的反应意味着什么。在难民危机和冠状病毒大流行等近期事件的背景下，本文讨论了一个越来越将自己的现实想象为生存的社会的（生物）政治后果。必须被视为一个核心术语，用于理解我们在面临感知到的持续威胁时如何概念化我们的生活，以及这对我们对灾难和灾难的反应意味着什么。在难民危机和冠状病毒大流行等近期事件的背景下，本文讨论了一个越来越将自己的现实想象为生存的社会的（生物）政治后果。