New publication: Situation und Konstellation

Hartmut Rosa
Situation und Konstellation
Vom Verschwinden des Spielraums
Suhrkamp publishing house, 2026
ISBN: 978-3-518-58833-8
247 pages
25 EUR

The teacher who cannot give marks for encouragement, the doctor who treats screens instead of patients, the referee whose judgement is displaced by the VAR: The character of our actions is changing imperceptibly in contemporary society. In our professional lives in particular, but increasingly also in our leisure time, guidelines and forms, algorithms and apps are meticulously mapping out our decision-making processes. Situation-sensitive reflection and judgement are being replaced by the constellation-based execution logic of the machines we use day in, day out. "Agree" / "Disagree" – this is how actors become executors.

This development, however much it may serve the cause of justice and transparency, comes at a high price, which Hartmut Rosa vividly quantifies in his new book. Because when the scope for judgement disappears and the creativity of human action is eliminated from everyday practice, the feeling of powerlessness grows. And with the power of judgement, the energy for action as such withers away. But how can we counteract this individual and collective loss of energy in society? According to Rosa, by strengthening the human capacity for action at all levels of social existence.