wu wei

English

Alternative forms

• wu-wei

Etymology

Borrowed from Chinese 無為／无为 (wúwéi).

Noun

wu wei (uncountable)

1. A state of effortless inaction, in Taoism or Chinese statecraft.
   • 2013, Benjamin Noys, quoting Franco Berardi, Malign Velocities: Accelerationism and Capitalism, Zero Books, →ISBN:

     These alternatives seem tepid, or even reactionary – take Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi’s invocation of a politics of exhaustion that would ‘become the beginning of a slow movement toward a “wu wei” civilization, based on withdrawal, and frugal expectations for life and consumption’.