To thrive in these times: capabilities, negativity, and the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare many of the inadequacies of our capitalist systems, as Zizek extols in Pandemic! COVID-19 Shakes the World (2020). This essay explores how the capabilities approach, as outlined by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, may be re-examined in the light of this new viral reality by the contributions of Slavoj Zizek and Byung-Chul Han. The capability approach, as it stands, suffers from two missing pieces: that of an acknowledgement of the necessity of negativity as a foil to positivity within the capabilities as articulated by Nussbaum, and the existence of the material root of all capabilities, namely the need to have the capacity to be capable. A "capability for boredom", and a "zeroth capability" are discussed as solutions, means by which to fill these gaps. Finally, an universal basic income is discussed as a means by which to support the functioning of a "zeroth capability", the goal being to avoid a descent into bare life during this time of pandemic capitalism. Teather-Posadas E.R. To thrive in these times: capabilities, negativity, and the pandemic // International Journal of Zizek Stu-dies. 2021. Vol. 15. №1.