Loving
Lieben (‘Loving’) is the new book by Emilia Roig, who is a political scientist and diversity, intersectionality and equality expert. The book is part of the “Leben” (‘Living’) series by Hanser Berlin Publishers, in which the essays titled Schlafen (‘Sleep’), Altern (‘Aging’) and Streiten (‘Arguing’) were released. Roig is the author of the non-fiction books Why We Matter: Das Ende der Unterdrückung (‘Why We Matter: The End of Oppression’ ) published by Aufbau Publishers in 2021, and Das Ende der Ehe: Für eine Revolution der Liebe (‘The End of Marriage: For a Love Revolution’), published by Ullstein Buchverlage in 2023, both of which I read very eagerly. As such, I was greatly looking forward to the release of Roig’s first published essay.
Loving clearly differentiates itself from both of its predecessors. It is Roig’s most personal book to date; she reveals a lot about herself and her experiences, losses and her family. Here is a warning for all: the book discusses sexual and emotional violence and family dynamics which could be triggering for some.
Roig starts her essay with her own definition of love, and in the course of the book she shifts her focus from small spheres into increasingly larger ones. She starts her discussion within the context of her family, expands the term to encompass friendships, then through to societal coexistence, nature and the cosmos.
Roig sets big intentions in this comprehensive essay of almost 120 pages. Alongside her own personal experiences, such as the deep grief following the loss of a child and her family’s reaction to her experience of sexual violence over the span of several years, she also talks about the sensibility of plants and trees. An example she uses is how her house plants would mourn when she is away traveling. In relation to this, she discusses Indigenous cultures for whom nature, living beings and people form one cohesive unit, while in Western societies human beings assume dominance over nature. Roig also says that we could adapt a lot of how plants communicate with one-another to implement in our daily lives.
She brings up animal welfare and veganism. She discusses psychedelics and how they have helped her to expand the way she experiences love, and she talks about interactions with spirituality and astrology in her childhood. She also links these topics with personal experiences, thus showing how the idea of love in the Western world is shaped and limited by colonialism, racism, the patriarchy and capitalism. Unfortunately, it is precisely this balancing act that didn’t quite scratch the surface enough for my liking. As I was reading, I kept wanting Roig to make more room for her clever thinking, so that it could be expanded in greater detail.
If you have already read a bit about intersectional perspectives of love, there may not necessarily be much new to find here. This book would, however, be a very good entry point to the topic, and that is probably exactly the goal of the “Leben” series. It provides many impulses for readers to think about certain aspects in greater depth and in a more targeted manner after reading. And one thing is absolutely clear: Roig fights bitterly for justice. For her, love and justice are two inseparable notions.