Defining Minimalism in the present age is a tricky task. To illustrate my point, I will present here some of the most readily accessible definitions I could find while searching the internet:
An art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s (1)
An effort to use materials which are most essential and in quantities that do not exceed certain limits imposed by the user themselves (2)
The stripping away of the untidy organic haphazardness that makes spaces their most human (3)
A lifestyle of awareness and intention regarding belongings, time, and energy (4)
The Wikipedia page for Minimalism alone provides distinct definitions for Minimalism in visual art, design, architecture, literature, music, science, cooking, fashion, lifestyle, and even skin care. More than a term that can be easily defined, the word Minimalism refers to a school of thought and a lens for approaching things, and it dates back to 1908 (5).
Minimalism—the design aesthetic, the school of thought, an even the modern offshoot pertaining to a lifestyle that reduces consumption—is rooted in white supremacy. That is to say, the man credited with being the father of Minimalism, Adolf Loos, was well-documented to subscribe to Eurocentric and white supremacist ideologies. He regularly expressed his belief in the moral and social inferiority of non-Europeans (6, 7).
Most of my exposure to Minimalism has been related to Minimalism as a lifestyle choice. This movement was largely popularized by The Minimalists beginning in 2010.
Minimalism focuses on an anti-capitalist mindset that allows the default hyper-individual macro-consumer produced by our capitalist society to examine their relationship with “stuff” in pursuit of a more meaningful existence.
The Minimalists themselves define Minimalism this way:
Minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s important—so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom.
The Minimalists, “What is minimalism” (8)
It is not lost on me that two cishet white men from central states began using the term Minimalism, popularizing an application to belongings and personal spending, perhaps without spending much time researching the existing associations with that term. Their dubbing themselves “The Minimalists” necessarily adds credence to the oppressive legacy of Adolf Loos, the cishet white supremacist man responsible for the school of thought’s inception.
Choosing this term, perpetuating this concept, I imagine in the privilege of their ignorance, itself speaks to the ways that exclusive and racially-motivated ideologies are perpetuated among those whose privilege insulates them from the impact of their choices. It probably seems like “not that big of a deal,” to white men to take up the weapons of historically oppressive systems. It’s part and parcel. I write this as a white person myself, having seen all too closely the ways that racism winds its way casually through circles of “well-meaning” and “nice” suburban white communities.
Yet for as many criticisms as I have of The Minimalists, I have also benefited greatly from the concepts they’ve shared, and much of my life has been shaped by the pursuit of a disentanglement with consumerism and “stuff.” Fundamentally, I believe the work is important. It occurs to me that the work has also maybe been taken up somewhat clumsily.
Why not come up with a name that more deeply embodies the point—room in your life for the meaningful—and is therefore clearly and identifiably distinct from the fascist roots of Minimalism in design, art, and architecture? Why not Meaningfulism? Intentionalism? Presenteeism? They’d have beaten George McKeown to the term Essentialism by about four years. Why not Vitalism? Why not literally anything else?
I’m not winning any awards for marketing with this list, but I am sure I have made my point. The answer to the question, “why not literally anything else?,” is, of course, because The Minimalists did not invent the concept of Minimalism, or it’s principles; they took up the reigns on an existing framework. They did so from a place of what appears to be genuine interest in sharing with others what has been impactful in their lives.
Even as the focus of their work diverges from that of Loos, it is inextricably associated as an arm of a greater history of thought. That history of thought also happens to have extremely pro-European fascist roots.
Minimalism as a lifestyle choice, the pursuit of less meaningless stuff, has at it’s a core an important kernel of hope for those of us suffering through the era of mass-exposure to advertising and constant data mining that we live in.
In a post exploring whether it’s bad to be a Minimalist, The Ordinary Hippie presented the following list of questions for reflection:
Does the label of Minimalism matter?
What are my reasons for being Minimalist?
Are my actions appropriating another culture, or silencing another voice?
Is my view of Minimalism inclusive?
Am I okay with Minimalism looking different for each person? (9)
Reflecting on these questions can help an individual determine if the way they are engaging with the concept is exclusive, oppressive, prescriptive, or otherwise harmful. These are important considerations, and Minimalism does regularly attract those who wish to display their wealth, status, and supposed moral superiority. Seeking the most meaningful experiences possible in one’s own life is an entirely different path compared to internally competing with everyone around you for who can do the least in an attempt to make some point about one’s own moral positionality.
This isn’t to say that Minimalism can benefit everyone, but for those it can benefit, what is the way that we bring these ideas to folks without endorsing a fraught past and disturbing legacy, and without exposing them to potential further harm?
A friend pointed out recently that even if a distinguishing term were added (for example, calling it Anti-Capitalist Minimalism, or Presence Minimalism, or Meaningful Minimalism), a biproduct of that choice could be a favorable rebrand of a theory that is deeply rooted in exclusionary beliefs and practices. A worthwhile question is whether historically oppressive systems deserve to be brought into new eras in tact, or whether it’s better to burn them down.
I do not know the answer to this question, but I endeavor to hold it in my body still.
In thinking about the racist history of men whose theories live on in the modern canon, I began to create in my mind a parallel with Asperger’s Syndrome, now more commonly known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Introduced by Hans Asperger, and based on his deeply troubling studies on children during the World War II era, Asperger’s Syndrome made it’s way into the DSM in 1992. Asperger himself openly promoted “race hygiene” and was associated with several Nazi organizations, enjoying great career success as a result of his associations with genocidal fascists (10).
Despite all of this controversial history regarding the origins of the term, Asperger’s Syndrome was removed from the DSM-5 in 2013, not because of it’s deeply troubling Nazi roots, but simply because it was determined not to be distinct enough from Autism, and the two diagnoses were absorbed into the new label Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (11).
Minimalism and Asperger’s are related in that their thought-leaders reign from World War II Austria, and they were each squarely on the wrong side of history with their Eurocentric and Nazi leanings. On a more abstract level, I began to think through a parallel in the way we think about Autism (and, for example, gender) as presenting on a spectrum.
There are myriad ways that folks engage with Minimalism—some people have minimal wardrobes, some people like minimalist decor, some people exercise minimalism in spending, and beyond that, facets of the primary tenets of Minimalism can be found in other popular schools of thought. Greg McKeown’s 2014 book Essentialism (12) identifies many of the same processes of thought employed by The Minimalists, with perhaps a slightly more business and entrepreneurial focus. Marie Kondo’s Konmari method (13) of tidying emphasizes retaining items which spark joy, a clear parallel to The Minimalist’s insistence that one keep only those items that add meaning and value to their own lives.
Noting the obvious differences between the potentially debilitating social and developmental disorder (ASD) and the presently-trendy school of thought and social movement (Minimalism), I think there might be something to the view of complex human issues as spectrums. Likely on the spectrum myself, I can struggle with black and white thinking and be prone to oversimplification. This post is an example of how I attempt to make sense of topics which confuse me, of the reality of having had life-changing experiences engaging with a concept that has a racist as it’s roots.
While researching for this post, I also read the Wikipedia article for Humanism, and in a roundabout way it helped me wrap my mind around much of what I have written here. The article almost immediately noted that the meaning of Humanism has changed over time in accordance with the beliefs of the individuals who identified as Humanists throughout history (14).
That is to say, humans have an effect on their belief systems, it is a give and take experience by which we are shaped by our beliefs, and we shape them back. Things change over time as function of being held in the hands of deeply changing and imperfect beings. Humans are powerful over our language even as it exercises power over us.
This, oddly, gave me a bit of a renewed sense of peace in understanding Minimalism. To the extent that I am aware of the fraught history of the term and the poisonous roots of the ideology, I am able to notice and challenge any such tendencies in my practice. To the extent that I am able to notice the privilege that I exercise in evaluating this premise academically, the privilege that I experience in having access to these ideas in the first place, and the privilege to make choices about my own existence, I am also empowered to be the change.
So, in the end, it is not for Minimalism that I advocate, but for the individual experience of radical authenticity, and any and all tools by which we fight for it in a society which aims to root it out. For me, Minimalism is a tool that helps me clarify my most authentic self, and focus my time and attention on only those most important parts of life. In all it’s labyrinthine and changing history, having touched the imperfection of humanity over a century, it is a testament to the nature of change. It is change that we have to be willing to make, choices that we have to be willing to face.
I still don’t know the answer to how we ought approach Minimalism and other lingering legacies of white supremacist thinkers. Frankly, I am not qualified to make such decisions, and I am only one person who has to work hard to live my one imperfect life. I do know that things change, and they will change, and I am willing to learn and think and change too.
References in order of presentation:
(1) Wikipedia: Minimalism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism
(2) What Is Minimalism? A Practical Guide to a Minimalist Lifestyle
https://www.breakthetwitch.com/minimalism/
(3) Death to Minimalism
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/02/death-to-minimalism
(4) What Does it Mean?! 23 Definitions Related to Minimalism
https://www.miadanielle.com/blog/definitions-related-to-minimalism
(5) The Minimalist Movement
https://www.theurbaneditions.com/blogs/news/the-minimalist-movement
(6) Ornament and Crime
https://www2.gwu.edu/~art/Temporary_SL/177/pdfs/Loos.pdf
(7) How Minimalism is Rooted in Fascism
https://uxdesign.cc/how-minimalism-is-rooted-in-fascism-7204b15482a8
(8) The Minimalists
https://www.theminimalists.com/
https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/
(9) The Ordinary Hippie - Is it Wrong to be a Minimalist?
https://theordinaryhippie.com/2021/11/28/is-it-wrong-to-be-a-minimalist/
(10) Hans Asperger, National Socialism, and “race hygiene” in Nazi-era Vienna
https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-018-0208-6
(11) What happened to Asperger’s Syndrome?
https://werklund.ucalgary.ca/news/what-happened-aspergers-syndrome#:~:text=In%202013%2C%20the%20American%20Psychiatric,the%20term%20'Autism%20Spectrum%20Disorder.
(12) Essentialism by George McKeown
https://gregmckeown.com/books/essentialism/
(13) KonMari Method by Marie Kondo
https://konmari.com/about-the-konmari-method/
(14) Wikipedia: Humanism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism