Theory of Social Change - Panel Discussion Critical Theory in Berlin 2023-03-13 | Sally Haslanger, Theodore Schatzki, Michele Moody-Adams, Rahel Jaeggi disuss elements of a theory of social change. Chair: Robin Celikates.00:00 Durability of Structures13:07 Impossibility of Willing Social Change into Existence23:52 Leverages for Social Change35:11 What makes Social Change Change for the Better?____________________________________________________________________________________________Website: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/...Twitter: twitter.com/ktb_berlinMastodon: https://sciences.social/@criticaltheoryinberlin
Dipesh Chakrabarty: Provincializing Humans? Planetarity and Indigeneity, 3. Lecture, 25.06.26 Critical Theory in Berlin 2026-07-28 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique – a distinguished scholar is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2026, the Benjamin Chair was held by Dipesh Chakrabarty, a renowned historian and leading figure of postcolonial theory and subaltern studies. Entitled ‘A Second Decline of the West?‘, the Benjamin Lectures by Dipesh Chakrabarty was held on 23, 24 and 25 June 2026 in Miriam Makeba Auditorium in Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin.25 June 2026, Lecture 3: Provincializing Humans? Planetarity and IndigeneityIf the Indigenous peoples of settler-colonial societies were a group permanently denied the idea of an autonomous Future, a “gift” wrested out of the hands of a once-imperial Europe by anticolonial leaders and thinkers in other contexts, the planetary climate crisis and its attendant phenomena render the Indigenous condition universal in two senses, Human futures may be shorter and more fragmented than we imagine; and the global quest for sustainable futures will have much to learn from Indigenous ways of caring for land and biodiversity.The most powerful nation has walked out of all climate negotiations and thereby left the issue of leadership on planetary questions to marketplace and to techno-fixes like carbon capture and sequestration and geo-engineering.This lecture will develop a critique of what I see as an “engineering” approach to global warming and discuss why and how this approach may be thought of as a “provincial” response by the world’s privileged to the universal challenge of global warming. Would “provincializing America” be in principle a different project today from what provincializing Europe meant when becoming global was our only concern?
Dipesh Chakrabarty: Globalization and the Politics of Provincializing Europe, 2 Lecture, 24.06.2026 Critical Theory in Berlin 2026-07-28 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique – a distinguished scholar is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2026, the Benjamin Chair was held by Dipesh Chakrabarty, a renowned historian and leading figure of postcolonial theory and subaltern studies. Entitled ‘A Second Decline of the West?‘, the Benjamin Lectures by Dipesh Chakrabarty was held on 23, 24 and 25 June 2026 in Miriam Makeba Auditorium in Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin.24 June 2026, Lecture 2: Globalization and the Politics of Provincializing EuropeWhen did the historical process of “the Europeanization of the Earth” begin to end? Carl Schmitt dated the process from the US’s Monroe Doctrine of 1823, while Franz Fanon dated it from the 1960s. Was Globalization yet another point on this long calendar of the various endings of the process of Europeanization-of-the-earth? Fukuyama was wrong in thinking that Globalization would usher in “the last man.”The project of provincializing Europe was a critical response to Globalization. It arose from the ruins of decades of Third-World debates on human futures in terms of two opposed and originally European ideas that had become hegemonic: capitalism and socialism. The idea of a common, shared, and emancipatory future for humanity was one of the strongest global legacies of imperial Europe, a legacy that is still alive but threatened. At the same time, the global world was built on the backs of indigenous and enslaved peoples who were rendered homeless by the expansion of Europe. Many anticolonial struggles sought to combine principles of internationalism with an ambivalent relationship to the nation-form as a form of dwelling.Can one feel emancipated in a state of homelessness? What is the relationship between loss and liberty? To provincialize Europe in a global age was to ask these questions that will be the staple of this lecture.
Dipesh Chakrabarty: The Between and Betwixt Nature of Our Times, 1. Benjamin Lecture, 23.06.2026 Critical Theory in Berlin 2026-07-27 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique – a distinguished scholar is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2026, Dipesh Chakrabarty held the Benjamin Chair. The Benjamin Lectures by Dipesh Chakrabarty entitled »A second Decline of the West?« were held on the 23rd, 24th and 25th of June 2026 at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin.23 June 2026, Lecture 1: The Between and Betwixt Nature of Our TimesSome Spenglerian apprehensions hover over contemporary discussions in all democracies of the world. The various uncertainties we face – climate, the future of work, human demographic transition, erosion of democracy, geopolitical wars that marginalize the UN – prompt many to ask if we are witnessing the passing of the international order that was established after the Second World War. What was heralded as the new and gilded age of “globalization” in the early 1990s is now lined with anxieties about human futures. While we cannot simply repeat Spengler’s concerns today, our times are full of forebodings and questions of decline reminiscent of Spenglerian tropes.Yet we are not the first in modern history to live with the feeling of passing through strange and transitional times. One is reminded of several German – and Jewish-German – thinkers of the twentieth century who theorized their own times as suspended between the two senses of the “no longer” and the “not yet.”My first lecture will focus on the in-between nature of our present that is suspended between a declining sense of the global, that, though by no means exhausted, no longer seems adequate for addressing human futures; and an incipient planetary awareness that, while indispensable, is not yet available or operative as a human-political category.
Aaron Benanav: Rational Choice in a Multidimensional Economy Critical Theory in Berlin 2026-05-05 | Keynote lecture by Aaron Benanav (Cornell University) at the CTB workshop "The Grounds of Planing: Rationality, Pseudorationality, and Critique", held at Humboldt-University Berlin, on 5 December 2025.
Critique of AI - 16 Feb 2026, Centre for Social Critique, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Critical Theory in Berlin 2026-04-24 | A roundtable featuring Matteo Pasquinelli (Ca’ Foscari University Venice), Anna-Verena Nosthoff (Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg), Roland Meyer (University of Zurich & Zurich University of the Arts), Rainer Mühlhoff (University of Osnabrück), moderated by Jacob Blumenfeld (HU Berlin). This roundtable invites a critical conversation about AI as a social and cultural phenomenon, one that cannot be separated from the economic, political, and ecological conditions that produced it. The discussion takes a critical look at the ways AI currently corrodes the basic practices of thinking: the flattening of language in ChatGPT-style prose, the replacement of visual imagination with automated templates, and the erosion of deep reading, writing, and interpretation in favor of fast and frictionless output. Such transformations point beyond technology itself. They reveal a society already accustomed to speed, convenience, and outsourcing judgment, where thinking is a burden, creativity deskilled, and public culture reduced to algorithmic residue. This roundtable asks how we might still cultivate critical reflection, honest dialogue, and literacy skills in a moment when the tools we use to think are making thinking nearly impossible.
Prof. Omar Dahbour: An Ecosocialist Concept of Land Ownership and Territorial Rights Critical Theory in Berlin 2025-11-12 | Keynote Lecture by Prof. Omar Dahbour (City University of New York) at the conference "The Land Question" on 31.10.2025, organised by Dr. Rabea Berfelde and Dr. Jacob Blumenfeld as part of their research project "Socialisation in Theory and Practice: Democratising the Access to Land and Energy" at the Centre for Social Critique, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The project is funded by Gerda-Henkel Stiftung. More about the conference here: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/event/the-land-question-die-bodenfrage/
Prof. Isabel Feichtner: Land, Sea, Moon: From territoriality to becoming terrestrial Critical Theory in Berlin 2025-11-12 | Keynote Lecture by Prof. Isabel Feichtner (University Würzburg) at the conference "The Land Question" on 31.10.2025, organised by Dr. Rabea Berfelde and Dr. Jacob Blumenfeld as part of their research project "Socialisation in Theory and Practice: Democratising the Access to Land and Energy" at the Centre for Social Critique, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The project is funded by Gerda-Henkel Stiftung. More about the conference here: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/event/the-land-question-die-bodenfrage
The Politics of Critical Theory: online conversation with Alex Demirović Critical Theory in Berlin 2025-09-10 | Alex Demirović is a Senior Fellow at the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung and an associated member of the Centre for Social Critique. He is Apl. Professor for political science and political sociology at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main. His research focuses on Marxist state theory, economic democracy, and critical theory.Topic:When Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer returned from exile to the Federal Republic of Germany after the war, they faced a radically transformed political landscape. No longer on the margins of society, they had to navigate the challenge of criticizing society from within the university. But how can critical theory be institutionally anchored? Is it possible to uphold anti-authoritarian and democratic ideals within academia and public discourse? What roles should critical intellectuals play inside and outside the university, especially in times of right-wing resurgence? In his major work on Frankfurt School critical theory, The Nonconformist Intellectual (Der nonkonformistische Intellektuelle), forthcoming in English translation, Alex Demirović provides an in-depth analysis of Adorno and Horkheimer’s political, intellectual, and institutional practices in 1950s and 1960s West Germany. The revival of critical theory in Frankfurt after National Socialism was far from neutral—it was fraught with challenges, conflicts, and controversies. This period reveals some of the key dilemmas in realizing the political potential of critical theory. But Alex Demirović himself has always been a nonconformist intellectual. His memoir, Wenn man nichts will, erkennt man nichts, traces his own journey—from a working-class upbringing to the New Left and critical social theory, which must continuously renew itself to preserve the possibility of emancipation. Jacob Blumenfeld will speak with Alex Demirović about the politics of critical theory in the Frankfurt School, the role of critical intellectuals in society, and his own experiences in the New Left and beyond.
Tommie Shelby: Self-Respect and the Value of Protest, 3 Benjamin Lecture 20/06/25 Critical Theory in Berlin 2025-07-15 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique – a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2025, Tommie Shelby will hold the Benjamin Chair. The Benjamin Lectures by Tommie Shelby entitled »Political Ethics of the Oppressed: Freedom, Solidarity, and Self-Respect« will be held on the 18th, 19th and 20th of June 2025 at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10 in Berlin.20 June 2025, Lecture 3: Self-Respect and the Value of ProtestThe third and final lecture critically reflects on the role of self-respect in the political ethics of the oppressed, including its connection to solidarity and public protest. Risky defiance in the face of unjust treatment is sometimes called for even when one can foresee that such rebellious acts will not improve social conditions and will likely be personally costly. Relying on insights from Richard Wright, the lecture explains why this risk is sometimes necessary not only to protect one’s dignity but also to overcome the disposition to surrender to injustice.In this video: 00:00 Intro Trailer 00:00:19 Welcome by Rahel Jaeggi and Robin Celikates00:00:43 Introduction to Tommie Shelby’s third lecture by Robin Celikates00:03:25 Third Benjamin Lecture by Tommie Shelby 01:02:14 Final words and thanks
Tommie Shelby: Solidarity, Politics, and Intellectual Life, 2 Benjamin Lecture 19/06/25 Critical Theory in Berlin 2025-07-15 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique – a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2025, Tommie Shelby will hold the Benjamin Chair. The Benjamin Lectures by Tommie Shelby entitled »Political Ethics of the Oppressed: Freedom, Solidarity, and Self-Respect« will be held on the 18th, 19th and 20th of June 2025 at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10 in Berlin.19 June 2025, Lecture 2: Solidarity, Politics, and Intellectual LifeThis second lecture examines what role intellectuals from oppressed groups should play in the struggle for their group’s liberation. It draws on the work of Du Bois and Wright to ask whether such intellectuals should subordinate their interest in art and ideas to political resistance against injustice. It also probes a deep tension between the characteristic dispositions of intellectuals and the demands of political solidarity, and it asks how (if at all) this tension might be resolved or lessened. In this video: 00:00 Intro Trailer 00:00:19 Welcome by Robin Celikates00:01:04 Summery of the first lecture and introduction to Tommie Shelby’s second lecture by Rahel Jaeggi and Robin Celikates00:04:15 Second Benjamin Lecture by Tommie Shelby
Tommie Shelby: Race and Class in the Political Ethics of the Oppressed, 1 Benjamin Lecture 18/06/25 Critical Theory in Berlin 2025-07-15 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique – a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2025, Tommie Shelby will hold the Benjamin Chair. The Benjamin Lectures by Tommie Shelby entitled »Political Ethics of the Oppressed: Freedom, Solidarity, and Self-Respect« were held on the 18th, 19th and 20th of June 2025 at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10 in Berlin.18 June 2025, Lecture 1: Race and Class in the Political Ethics of the OppressedThis opening lecture lays the groundwork for the discussion to come. It has three main goals. First, it introduces the idea of the political ethics of the oppressed and explains its place within philosophy. Second, relying on the writings of Richard Wright, it introduces the Black Radical Tradition’s approach to racial and class-based oppression. And third, it offers a general conception of solidarity among the oppressed and explains the role of such solidarity in just political causes. In this video: 00:00 Intro Trailer 00:00:21 Welcome by Rahel Jaeggi and Robin Celikates00:04:25 Introduction to Tommie Shelby and the Lectures by Rahel Jaeggi and Robin Celikates00:11:53 First Benjamin Lecture by Tommie Shelby
Bianca Tavolari on the Politics of School Occupations in São Paulo Critical Theory in Berlin 2025-03-17 | In this interview, Bianca Tavolari explores the central arguments and political context of the newly translated article “Occupied Public Schools in São Paulo (2015-2016): Between Public Tenure and the Right to Freedom of Expression,” co-authored by Bianca Tavolari, Marília Rolemberg Lessa, Jonas Medeiros, Rúrion Melo and Adriano Januário. Tavolari retraces key events from the 2015-2016 cycle of school occupations in São Paulo, analyzes the emerging conflicts within the arenas of the public sphere, the law, and political struggles, and situates these events within the broader context of the rise of authoritarianism.Bianca Tavolari is professor of law at FGV São Paulo Law School. She holds a MA and PhD from the Law School of the University of São Paulo, where she also obtained an undergraduate degree in philosophy. Previously, she was a professor at the Insper Institute of Education and Research (Insper) in São Paulo and a visiting professor at the University of St. Gallen. She is a principal investigator at Maria Sibylla Merian Centre – Mecila, an institution of which she is also the Brazilian director, with a mandate from April 2024 to September 2025. She is also a researcher at the Brazilian Center of Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP). Her work and publications focus on urban law and policy, critical theory, social movements, and struggles for housing and the right to the city.Timestamps:00:00 Introduction00:35 Can you give a brief introduction and overview of the student protests in 2015-2016?02:38 Can you say more about how this wave of occupations is connected to the broader movement context in Brazil and about the role of occupations?04:19 What are the usual legal reactions to occupations and what was different in this case? 08.56 What was the political reaction of the São Paulo government? What was at stake in these conflicts in the arenas of the public, the law, and political struggles? 12:51 You describe this “escape from the Judiciary” as an opening to authoritarian rule. Would you say it contributed to a wider development towards authoritarianism?15:21 What are other important long term effects of these events?17:07 As a legal scholar, would you say that framing political demands or protests in legal terms always means a risk of depoliticization?___________________________________________________________________________Read the article: critup.net/translations/occupied-public-schools-in-sao-paulo-2015-2016-between-public-tenure-and-the-right-to-freedom-ofexpressionExplore the CritUP network: critup.net
Rúrion Melo on Counterpublics and the New Conflicts of the Public Sphere Critical Theory in Berlin 2025-02-10 | In this interview, Rúrion Melo presents the central arguments of his newly translated article “Counterpublics and the New Conflicts of the Public Sphere,” recently published by the Critical Theory Under Pressure (CritUP) network. Melo revisits Fraser’s concept of subaltern counterpublics for contemporary critical theory, rethinking it against the backdrop of recent Brazilian history and the rise of authoritarianism. Rúrion Melo is a Professor of Political Science at the University of São Paulo (USP), a researcher of the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP), and part of the CritUP network. His work focuses on critical theory—with an emphasis on Habermas and Honneth—as well as Marxism, theories of democracy and the public sphere. Currently, he is working on critical race theory and preparing a publication on the subject.Timestamps:00:00 Why should we use the concept of the Counterpublic in critical theory? 01:41 What conflicts come into focus when you look at recent Brazilian history through the lens of the Counterpublic? 07:03 On the connection between progressive and rightwing Counterpublics, “Lulism,” and “Social Developmentalism” 11:26 How does the concept of the Counterpublic help us understand the emergence and constitution of new rightwing groups?___________________________________________________________________________Read the article: critup.net/translations/counterpublics-and-the-new-conflicts-of-the-public-sphereExplore the CritUP network: critup.net
Lea Ypi: What is Moral Socialism? – What Can I Know? (Benjamin Lecture 1) Critical Theory in Berlin 2024-07-04 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique in Berlin – a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2024, Lea Ypi served as Benjamin Chair. The lectures took place on the 19th, 20th, and 21st of June 2024 at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin.June 19th – What Can I Know?In this first Benjamin lecture, Lea Ypi defines some key terms and explores the Enlightenment conception of reason, with particular reference to the question of method and the effort to steer a path between dogmatism and scepticism. She suggests that this conception of reason has historically contributed to a critique of both vertical oppression from traditional authorities (the church, the monarchy, the empire) and horizontal oppression of commercial society and capitalist practices. She explores some standard materialist critiques to this view, and argues that they target a reductive, individualist, conception of the enlightenment which an adequate reinterpretation can avoid.––––––––––––––––––––––––In this video:00:00 Intro Trailer00:15 Welcome by Rahel Jaeggi02:58 Welcome by Julia von Blumenthal, President of the HU Berlin09:10 Introduction to Lea Ypi by Rahel Jaeggi18:14 First Benjamin Lecture by Lea Ypi1:14:35 Q&A
Lea Ypi: What is Moral Socialism? – What May I Hope? (Benjamin Lecture 3) Critical Theory in Berlin 2024-07-04 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique in Berlin – a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2024, Lea Ypi served as Benjamin Chair. The lectures took place on the 19th, 20th, and 21st of June 2024 at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin.June 21st – What May I Hope?In this third Benjamin lecture, Lea Ypi discusses what kind of political vision is needed to develop an alternative to capitalism. She defends a cosmopolitan socialist alternative that blends the critique of capitalism with a critique of nation states, and is guided by a concept of progress understood as learning from trials and failures of the past (including the failures of socialism in the 20th century). To this end, she defends a critical philosophy of history, and responds to some standard postcolonial and postmodern objections to her approach.––––––––––––––––––––––––In this video:00:00 Intro Trailer00:15 Welcome by Rahel Jaeggi03:11 Third Benjamin Lecture by Lea Ypi1:08:30 Q&A1:41:32 Final thanks
Lea Ypi: What is Moral Socialism? – What Should I Do? (Benjamin Lecture 2) Critical Theory in Berlin 2024-07-04 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique in Berlin – a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2024, Lea Ypi served as Benjamin Chair. The lectures took place on the 19th, 20th, and 21st of June 2024 at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin.June 20th – What Should I Do?In this second Benjamin lecture, Lea Ypi suggests that a critique of capitalism in the 21st century cannot be limited to showing its contradictions but needs to return to the fundamental question of its moral justification. Going back to a conception of practical reason focused on freedom, she argues that moral action is linked to the notion of a moral world where human beings relate to each other as ends in themselves. Far from being formalistic or solipsistic, this conception is crucial to diagnose the moral wrong of domination and exploitation entrenched in current capitalist practices.––––––––––––––––––––––––In this video:00:00 Intro Trailer00:15 Welcome by Rahel Jaeggi03:55 Second Benjamin Lecture by Lea Ypi1:08:40 Q&A
Panel Discussion: Structural Racism And Anti-Racist Struggles Critical Theory in Berlin 2023-07-31 | Sally Haslanger, Daniel James, Kristina Lepold and Bafta Sarbo discussed different understandings of structural racism and the concept’s implications for anti-racist struggles.The concept of structural racism has emerged as central to current anti-racist struggles and critical theorizing about race and racism. It signals that racism is a social problem that goes much deeper than individual attitudes or issues of diversity. At the same time, what precisely is structural about structural racism remains a matter of debate, and the concept has even become the focal point of a politically motivated ideological backlash. The panel will explore the contested meaning(s) of structural racism and its social-theoretical underpinnings and ask: if racism is indeed structural, what does this imply for anti-racist struggles and their transformative orientation?
Sally Haslanger: Who Cares? Networks of Knowledge and Solidarity (Benjamin Lecture 3) Critical Theory in Berlin 2023-07-28 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique – a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2023, Sally Haslanger served as Benjamin Chair. The lectures entitled "Agents of Possibility: The Complexity of Social Change" took place on the 14th, 15th and 16th of June 2023 (6-8 p.m.) at the Otto Braun Saal at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.June 16th – Who Cares? Networks of Knowledge and SolidarityFor decades, socialist feminists have insisted that an adequate account of society, and especially of capitalist societies, must involve attention to social reproduction, i.e., to “the activities and attitudes, behaviors and emotions, and responsibilities and relationships directly involved in maintaining life, on a daily basis and intergenerationally” (Brenner and Laslett 1991). One approach to social reproduction is to locate it within patriarchy, which is thought to be one of several interacting systems (others include capitalism and White supremacy). In this talk, I will argue it is better to understand our current social formation as a single (patriarchal, capitalist, White supremacist) system, but one in which there are multiple dynamics or “logics” that interact to produce distinctive forms of oppression. I will go on to discuss why this matters for developing a feminist political agenda around care work and explore the possibilities of radical social change this perspective opens up.____________________________________________________________________________________________Website: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/benjamin_lectures/agents-of-possibilites-the-complexity-of-social-change/Twitter: twitter.com/ktb_berlin
Sally Haslanger: What Can We Do? Co-Designing Social Interventions (Benjamin Lecture 2) Critical Theory in Berlin 2023-07-28 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique – a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2023, Sally Haslanger served as Benjamin Chair. The lectures entitled "Agents of Possibility: The Complexity of Social Change" took place on the 14th, 15th and 16th of June 2023 (6-8 p.m.) at the Otto Braun Saal at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.June 15th – What Can We Do? Co-Designing Social InterventionsAn important feature of theoretical projects that aim to promote social justice is their commitment to empowering those in oppressive circumstances so that they can solve their own problems. There are two reasons to take this approach. First, the oppressed have situated knowledge of the circumstances that others lack. But situated knowledge may not be enough to prompt critique. The second is that because both knowledge and values are shaped by social practices, a collective engagement with historically and materially grounded practices can provide a new frame for agency that enables a creative and potentially emancipatory restructuring of social relations. I argue that such path dependency of values is compatible with social justice being objective, but not to be discovered by theory alone.____________________________________________________________________________________________Website: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/benjamin_lectures/agents-of-possibilites-the-complexity-of-social-change/Twitter: twitter.com/ktb_berlin
Sally Haslanger: Who’s in Charge Here? Micro, Meso, Macro Interactions (Benjamin Lecture 1) Critical Theory in Berlin 2023-07-27 | In the framework of the Walter Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique – a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2023, Sally Haslanger served as Benjamin Chair. The lectures entitled "Agents of Possibility: The Complexity of Social Change" took place on the 14th, 15th and 16th of June 2023 (6-8 p.m.) at the Otto Braun Saal at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.June 14th – Who’s in Charge Here? Micro, Meso, Macro InteractionsSocieties are complex dynamic systems and, as a result, are self-organizing without central authorities, due to their internal structure. This lecture argues that the structure of a social system is constituted by social practices that enable us to coordinate and communicate. Such practices rely on a set of tools – a “cultural technē” – for collectively interpreting and responding to the material conditions. The structure shapes and constrains agency, but the possibility of individual improvisation, material intervention, and political organizing can – at least locally – influence how the system develops. Understanding the leverage points in a system can guide activism, and networked local change can, in principle, have broad impact.____________________________________________________________________________________________Website: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/benjamin_lectures/agents-of-possibilites-the-complexity-of-social-change/Twitter: twitter.com/ktb_berlin
Benjamin Lectures 2023 Agents of Possibility:The Complexity of Social Change.Sally Haslanger TRAILER Critical Theory in Berlin 2023-04-04 | Sally Haslanger is professor for philosophy at the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Being an active feminist and anti-racist, she will elucidate the complexities of social change and the decisive roles of social movements and social theory in her talks on “Agents of Possibility”.June 14-16, 2022, 6-8 pmat Otto-Braun-Saal, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Potsdamer Straße 33, BerlinRegistration is not required.https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/benjamin_lectures/agents-of-possibilites-the-complexity-of-social-change/
Theory of Social Change - Presentation by Theodor Schatzki Critical Theory in Berlin 2023-03-13 | Presentation by Theodor Schatzki as a part of our panel on "Structure, Event, Pratice - Elements of a Theory of Social Change" with Sally Haslanger, Michele Moody-Adams and Rahel Jaeggi. Chair: Robin Celikates.____________________________________________________________________________________________Website: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/...Twitter: twitter.com/ktb_berlinMastodon: https://sciences.social/@criticaltheoryinberlin
Conference Theory of Social Change - Presentation by Sally Haslanger Critical Theory in Berlin 2023-03-13 | Presentation by Sally Haslanger as a part of our panel on "Structure, Event, Pratice - Elements of a Theory of Social Change" with Michele Moody-Adams, Theodore Schatzki and Rahel Jaeggi. Chair: Robin Celikates.____________________________________________________________________________________________Website: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/...Twitter: twitter.com/ktb_berlinMastodon: https://sciences.social/@criticaltheoryinberlin
Theory of Social Change - Presentation by Rahel Jaeggi Critical Theory in Berlin 2023-03-13 | Presentation by Rahel Jaeggi as a part of our panel on "Structure, Event, Pratice - Elements of a Theory of Social Change" with Sally Haslanger, Michele Moody-Adams, Theodor Schatzki and Rahel Jaeggi. Chair: Robin Celikates.____________________________________________________________________________________________Website: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/...Twitter: twitter.com/ktb_berlinMastodon: https://sciences.social/@criticaltheoryinberlin
Theory of Social Change - Presentation by Michele Moody-Adams Critical Theory in Berlin 2023-03-13 | Presentation by Michele Moody-Adams as a part of our panel on "Structure, Event, Pratice - Elements of a Theory of Social Change" with Sally Haslanger, Theodore Schatzki and Rahel Jaeggi. Chair: Robin Celikates.____________________________________________________________________________________________Website: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/...Twitter: twitter.com/ktb_berlinMastodon: https://sciences.social/@criticaltheoryinberlin
Racialized Capitalism? Critical Theory in Berlin 2022-07-25 | Round Table with Nancy Fraser (Henry and Louise A. Loeb Professor of Philosophy and Politics at the New School for Social Research), Manuela Bojadžijev (professor at the Institute of European Ethnology at Humboldt University Berlin) and Bafta Sarbo (activist on the board of the initiative "Black People in Germany"), hosted by Robin Celikates.In his 1983 classic Black Marxism Cedric J. Robinson employed the term “racial capitalism” to insist that, as a matter of historical fact, industrial capitalism was built on the basis of colonialism and slavery, and that, as a matter of sociological fact, capitalist accumulation continues to operate through racial differentiation and hierarchization. In recent years, “racial capitalism” has attracted not only sustained theoretical attention, but it has also become an important reference point for radical social movements such as the Movement for Black Lives. It is not difficult to see why: race (just like gender) structures who can access jobs, wages, housing, credit, mobility across borders and other social goods; and being subjected to austerity, police violence, imprisonment, environmental hazards and health risks is in fundamental ways inflected by racism.In this panel discussed some of the central issues the turn to “racial capitalism” raises: If capitalism is necessarily racist, what makes it so? If race and gender are not accidental to, but constitutive of capitalism, how can the relation between class, race and gender be conceptualized in ways that also track their realignment in the current constellation? If, in the framework of racial capitalism, race is not primarily an identity but a structure of power, how does this impact our analysis both of capitalism and the movements that struggle against oppression and exploitation? And if the universal proletariat can no longer serve as the subject of revolutionary emancipation, what is the horizon for anti-capitalist struggles and transversal forms of solidarity today?
How Green is Socialism? Critical Theory in Berlin 2022-07-25 | With Nancy Fraser and Raul Zelik, hosted by Rahel Jaeggi. From an ecological point of view, capitalism has considerable disadvantages: Not only does its logic of growth deplete existing resources at a frantic and ever-increasing speed, but capitalism’s reward system also incentivizes people to exploit natural wealth free of charge. Once raw materials are used up, the systemic compulsion to minimize costs in a capitalist economy also punishes those who do not pass on the consequences of consumption and production to others. Consequently, the oceans are polluted and the atmosphere—after acid rain and ozone depletion—is finally on the verge of collapse due to constant pollution by industrial exhaust gases.Against this background, it is not necessary to have a detailed knowledge of Marx’s excerpts on industrial agriculture to see why his theory on how capitalism works is experiencing a renaissance in contemporary ecological discussions. Increasingly, the diagnosis is presented: Capitalism cannot solve the current ecological crises. What is needed is a different (in want of a better name: “socialist”) society.As convincing as the diagnosis of the causes of the manifold ecological crises is, the proposal to see the solution to the problems in socialism must come as a surprise. Neither the actually existing socialist states of the 20th century nor the socialism of the 21st century in China and Venezuela have a convincing ecological record. On the contrary, it seems almost as if capitalism’s unleashed spirit of innovation is developing ecological restructuring into just the latest guarantor of growth. We therefore discuss with three Marx-inspired proponents of ecological socialism, the limits of capitalism’s capacity for change and their ideas for a sustainable democratic society.Raul Zelik is an author, political scientist, and translator. Zelik was associate professor for international politics at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. And thought political theory in Berlin, Kassel and Bogotá. His most recent book is on the concept of green socialism („Wir Untoten des Kapitals. Über politische Monster und einen grünen Sozialismus“).Nancy Fraser is the Henry and Louise A. Loeb Professor of Philosophy and Politics at the New School for Social Research. She is a leading critical theorist and socialist feminist whose work over the past forty years has addressed issues of power, identity, emancipation, capital, justice, and oppression, especially in relation to the limits of liberalism.
Nancy Fraser: Benjamin Lecture 1 - Gender, Race, and Class through the Lens of Labor Critical Theory in Berlin 2022-07-12 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Humanities and Social Change Center Berlin – a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2022, Nancy Fraser served as Benjamin Chair. The lectures took place on the 14th, 15th and 16th of June 2022 (6-8 p.m.) at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt.June 14th – Gender, Race, and Class through the Lens of Labor: A Post-Intersectional Analysis of Capitalist SocietyIn these dark times, many who remain committed to social justice sense the need to think big. Dissatisfied with single-issue, identity-based campaigns, they seek larger political paradigms that connect the disparate concerns and dispersed struggles of multiple movements. The term “intersectionality,” hugely popular among feminists and anti-racists, is one important marker of this aspiration.This lecture aims to advance that integrative project. Returning to large-scale social theorizing, I propose an account of capitalist society that discloses the hidden ties between gender, race, and class. These I trace through the lens of labor, broadly conceived. Departing from received understandings, I argue that capitalist society relies on three analytically distinct types of labor. The first and most familiar is exploited labor, performed by free workers in exchange for wages in for-profit enterprises. Often equated with labor as such and, thus, with “the working class,” exploited labor would not be possible, or profitable, absent the two other types: expropriated labor – unpaid or under-paid and coercively extracted from unfree or dependent subjects who are usually racialized; and the externalized labor of care or social reproduction – chronically undervalued, often invisible, and largely performed by women. By theorizing the entwinement in capitalist society of these “three faces of labor,” this lecture suggests a way of thinking gender, race, and class together, within a common frame.____________________________________________________________________________________________Website: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/benjamin_lectures/2022/Twitter: twitter.com/ktb_berlin
Nancy Fraser: Benjamin Lecture 2 - Labor’s Twisted Histories Critical Theory in Berlin 2022-07-12 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Humanities and Social Change Center Berlin – a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2022, Nancy Fraser served as Benjamin Chair. The lectures took place on the 14th, 15th and 16th of June 2022 (6-8 p.m.) at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt.June 15th – Labor’s Twisted Histories: Practical Entanglements and Political Fault LinesIn this lecture, I turn from structure to history, examining laboring human beings, situated in space and time over the span of capitalist development. Periodizing that history, I identify four regimes in which the nexus of exploitation, expropriation and externalization is differently organized: mercantilist, liberal-colonial, state managed (or social-democratic), and neoliberal/financialized. For each phase, I map the historically specific relations among the three faces of labor, asking: Who performs each type of work and where? How sharp are the separations among those type of labors – and among those who perform them? What is the relative weight of each in the capitalist world system?I look, too, at the forms of social struggle and political subjectivity in each phase. Here I ask: How do those who perform each type of labor identify themselves? Do they think of themselves as “workers”, and are they viewed as such by others? Under what banner, if any, do they engage in collective struggle? How, if at all, does each group relate to the others – with solidarity, antagonism, or indifference? My aim is to weave together in one story two different ideas: first, the inextricability of the three forms of labor in capitalism’s history; and second, the forms of misrecognition that have divided those who perform them.____________________________________________________________________________________________Website: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/benjamin_lectures/2022/Twitter: twitter.com/ktb_berlin
Nancy Fraser: Benjamin Lecture 3 - Class beyond Class Critical Theory in Berlin 2022-07-12 | In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Humanities and Social Change Center Berlin – a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2022, Nancy Fraser served as Benjamin Chair. The lectures took place on the 14th, 15th and 16th of June 2022 (6-8 p.m.) at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt.June 16th – Class beyond Class: Toward a Counter-Hegemonic PoliticsThe previous lectures have left us with a political conundrum. On the one hand, the three faces of labor associated with exploitation, expropriation, and externalization are functionally integrated in capitalist society. On the other hand, only the first is (widely) recognized as labor; and only those directly engaged in it have organized politically as “workers”. Put differently, the functional integration of the three faces is not matched by any comparable political integration among the expropriated, the externalized, and the exploited. On the contrary, they appear divided in the classical triad: gender, race, and class.This lecture examines some political strategies for addressing that conundrum. After assessing the merits of intersectionality and “allyship”, I consider two additional proposals, less widely discussed, but at least as promising: first, a proposal to develop an expanded, inclusive, and differentiated view of “the working class,” which includes the expropriated and the externalized as well as the exploited; and second, the related idea, inspired by W. E. B. Du Bois, of conceiving existing struggles against racial/imperial oppression, on the one hand, and against the undervaluation of carework, on the other, as unrecognized labor struggles. These last proposals invite us to see anti-racism and feminism as labor movements, whose claims deserve a central place in a counter-hegemonic bloc, on a par with those of traditional “workers”. And that in turn means rethinking the triad – by envisioning “class beyond class.”____________________________________________________________________________________________Website: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/benjamin_lectures/2022/Twitter: twitter.com/ktb_berlin
Benjamin Lectures 2022 Three Faces of Capitalist Labor. Nancy Fraser TRAILER Critical Theory in Berlin 2022-04-28 | Should we view contemporary anti-racist, anti-imperialist, and feminist struggles as unrecognised labor struggles? Nancy Fraser uncovers the hidden ties among gender, race, and class by linking them to the three forms of capitalist labor: exploited labor, dispossessed labor, and domestic labor.June 14-16, 2022, 6-8 pmat Haus der Kulturen der Welt, John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, BerlinRegistration is not required.The lectures will be held in English, simultaneous German translation will be provided.https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/benjamin-lectures/Copyright:Thumbnail-image sources:flickr.com/photos/ben124/5978829002flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14766448604flickr.com/photos/stella12/29179424500
Highlights: The Convergence of Social Struggles Critical Theory in Berlin 2022-03-21 | Content: 00:00:00 Intro00:00:19 Do today's social struggles converge?00:07:34 What is a non-reformist reform?00:11:41 Identities and materialist structures of exploitation00:13:33 The representation of actual experiences00:15:21 Broader struggles and the analysis of privilege“In order to preserve or even expand the welfare state, migration must be stopped.” Claims like these accompanied the turn of former leftists to the racist and even völkisch far-right camp in the last decade. Underlying such considerations is a view of society in which the misery of some can only be eliminated, or even alleviated, by exacerbating the misery of others. The counter-thesis is that democratic co-determination—especially in the economic sphere—can only be expanded if co-determination means explicitly standing up for migration and against racism in an internationalist way. This thesis is based on an image of society in which forms of oppression, exploitation and domination are interconnected, so that the struggle against one of these forms must strive to overcome all forms of oppression, exploitation, and domination. Between both theses lies a third option: the search for a central origin of the relations of exploitation, oppression and domination in society. Only those who stab into the heart of the beast—so they claim—can prevent the heads of the Hydra from multiplying endlessly. The concern here is not only that emancipatory movements will become increasingly distracted by the struggle against myriad social injustices. The concern is also that emancipation is degenerating into a variant of radical liberalism, in which all forms of life have the same right to exist as long as they do not break out of the framework that neoliberal diversity management dictates. With our guests, we want to talk about the pros and cons for one or the other option considering practical social conflicts: What actual experiences indicate that social struggles have a common direction? And what dynamics prevent such a convergence?Silke van Dyk is professor for political sociology at the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena. Romin Khan is senior advisor for antiracism and the politics of migration at the trade union “verdi”. Manon Garcia is an assistant professor for philosophy at Yale University. Amna Akbar is an associate professor for law at The Ohio State University.________________________________________________________________________ Visit us on Twitter: twitter.com/KTB_Berlin and on our website: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/home/
The Convergence of Social Struggles (with Amna Akbar, Silke van Dyk, Manon Garcia and Romin Khan) Critical Theory in Berlin 2022-03-18 | 00:00:00 Rahel Jaeggi: The idea behind today's conversation00:02:45 Robin Celikates: Introduction of the participants00:05:26 1.Rahel Jaeggi: Is there currently a convergence of social struggles?00:06:24 1.1. Amna Akbar: Right wing mobilisation and left strategies in the US00:11:53 1.2. Manon Garcia: The victory of intersectional analysis, fragmentation of the left, and moral panic about wokeism00:19:51 1.3. Romin Khan: Unions as laboratories for social controversies00:25:27 1.4. Silke van Dyk: Fights against discrimination have a materialist foundation00:29:58 2. Robin Celikates: How do you conceive of the structural dimension of power/domination?00:33:32 2.1. Silke van Dyk: Externalisation as the common basis00:36:43 2.2. Romin Khan: The main objective is to overcome neoliberalism00:43:55 2.3. Amna Akbar: Non-reformist reforms and the danger to miss structural causes00:52:23 2.4. Manon Garcia: The difficulty of individualism and the social reasons for demobilisation01:00:55 3. Rahel Jaeggi: How are the systems of oppression connected?01:04:12 3.1. Manon Garcia: Who can fight, is the real question.01:11:20 3.2. Romin Khan: The need to make the whole range of identities tangible01:18:28 3.3. Amna Akbar: It's all in the actual practices01:23:42 3.4. Silke van Dyk: The difficulty to get a structuralist perspective on class back in without letting it dominate01:29:53 4. Robin Celikates: How to build solidarity across lines of division?01:31:40 4.1. Romin Khan: Collaboration is the key01:39:53 4.2. Manon Garcia: Fighting for a just world is better for everyone01:49:21 4.3. Silke van Dyk: There are struggles within the social movements01:53:38 4.4. Amna Akbar: It is not in the domain of persuasion that we gonna win these struggles“In order to preserve or even expand the welfare state, migration must be stopped.” Claims like these accompanied the turn of former leftists to the racist and even völkisch far-right camp in the last decade. Underlying such considerations is a view of society in which the misery of some can only be eliminated, or even alleviated, by exacerbating the misery of others. The counter-thesis is that democratic co-determination—especially in the economic sphere—can only be expanded if co-determination means explicitly standing up for migration and against racism in an internationalist way. This thesis is based on an image of society in which forms of oppression, exploitation and domination are interconnected, so that the struggle against one of these forms must strive to overcome all forms of oppression, exploitation, and domination. Between both theses lies a third option: the search for a central origin of the relations of exploitation, oppression and domination in society. Only those who stab into the heart of the beast—so they claim—can prevent the heads of the Hydra from multiplying endlessly. The concern here is not only that emancipatory movements will become increasingly distracted by the struggle against myriad social injustices. The concern is also that emancipation is degenerating into a variant of radical liberalism, in which all forms of life have the same right to exist as long as they do not break out of the framework that neoliberal diversity management dictates. With our guests, we want to talk about the pros and cons for one or the other option considering practical social conflicts: What actual experiences indicate that social struggles have a common direction? And what dynamics prevent such a convergence?Silke van Dyk is professor for political sociology at the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena. Romin Khan is senior advisor for antiracism and the politics of migration at the trade union “verdi”. Manon Garcia is an assistant professor for philosophy at Yale University. Amna Akbar is an associate professor for law at The Ohio State University.________________________________________________________________________ Visit us on Twitter: twitter.com/KTB_Berlin and on our website: https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/home/
Résumé of Summer School: Foundations of Solidarity Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-07-19 | by Lillian Cicerchia, Noemí Ancí Paredes and Marianna Poyaresmoderated by Christian Schmidt
A New Socialism for a New Century? - Roundtable Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-07-19 | Conversations on Socialism #4The online discussion with Christine Berry (Trustee of Rethinking Economics), Axel Honneth (Jack C. Weinstein Professor for the Humanities at Columbia University New York), Bhaskar Sunkara (editor of Jacobin Magazine) was hosted by Rahel Jaeggi on July 1st, 2021.There is a deep uncertainty concerning the outline of a left-wing societal alternative. Towards the end of his recent Benjamin Lectures Axel Honneth admitted: “I always viewed myself as a socialist—even though, today, I do not any longer know what a full blown socialism would look like.” At the same time, “socialism” has resurfaced as a left-wing code in the Anglo-Saxon world: young partisans want to influence the traditional Social-Democratic parties by the means of grassroots movements, pressure them to take positions further to the left, and to fight for a “socialism” which starts right here and right now. Hence, we would like to discuss what the democratization of the economy could mean today; which role market and state should play in the process; and how this new socialism relates to left-wing struggles for emancipation and against discrimination. The question is: What social visions will replace those old Social-Democratic promises and approaches, that have lost all their credibility, in the years to come?Christiane Berry is one of the most prominent proponents of the socialist rebirth in the UK and co-author of "People Get Ready!"Axel Honneth is the author of "The Idea of Socialism"Bhaskar Sunkara is the founder of Jacobin magazine, which presents socialism in the US as an intellectually exciting current and author of "The Socialist Manifesto"
Q&A - New Socialism for a New Century? - Roundtable Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-07-19 | with Christine Berry (Trustee of Rethinking Economics), Axel Honneth (Jack C. Weinstein Professor for the Humanities at Columbia University New York), Bhaskar Sunkara (editor of Jacobin Magazine) hosted by Rahel Jaeggi on July 1st, 2021.
Foundations of Solidarity - Roundtable Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-07-15 | In this round table event we discuss with Hauke Brunkhorst, Stefan Gosepath, Asad Haider, Sabine Hark, Serene Khader, Stefan Lessenich, and Frederick Neuhouser. This event was part of our fourth International Critical Theory Summer School on "Foundations of Solidarity" organized by the Humanities and Social Change Center Berlin (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) in cooperation with the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research and the New School for Social Research.How can the materialist foundations of actual solidarity be rethought without falling back into tacit assumptions of social homogeneity? Class, gender, race, nation, and even humanity have all lost their status as matters of course. Given the effects of sexism and racism, theories of solidarity have to take into account the complex contradictions of capitalist societies which divide subaltern and exploited groups on the domestic level as well as globally. Appeals to solidarity hence run into an uncertainty concerning the foundations of solidarity. Is solidarity the result of a shared form of life or of collective practices? Does it stem from similar experiences or a common situation? Is it marked by adversity or a common enemy? Or is it the effect of a shared devotion to a common cause?
Axel Honneth: Benjamin Lecture 3 - A Democratic Politics Of Labor Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-07-01 | with a Commentary by Andrea Komlosy and a Response by Axel Honneth
Christine Wimbauer Response to Axel Honneth on The Working Sovereign Benjamin-Lectures 2021 (Day2) Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-07-01 | 17.06.2021: Kommentar von Christine Wimbauer und Antwort von Axel Honneth
Axel Honneth: Benjamin Lecture 2 - The Reality Of Social Labor Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-07-01 | ...
Ruth Yeoman Response to Axel Honneth on The Working Sovereign Benjamin-Lectures 2021 (Day 1) Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-07-01 | 16.06.2021: Commentary by Ruth Yeoman and Response by Axel Honneth
Benjamin Lectures 2021 The Working Sovereign Axel Honneth. TRAILER (English version) Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-05-27 | Registration at https://www.freiluftkino-hasenheide.de/ Wednesday, June 16th, 2021Lecture 1: Die Arbeit (in) der DemokratieCommentary: Ruth Yeoman (University of Oxford)Thursday, June 17th, 2021Lecture 2, Die Wirklichkeit der gesellschaftlichen ArbeitCommentary: Christine Wimbauer (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)Friday, June 18th, 2021Lecture 3: Der Kampf um die gesellschaftliche ArbeitCommentary: Andrea Komlosy (Universität Wien)The lectures will be held in German, simultaneous English translation will be provided.
Benjamin Lectures 2021 Der arbeitende Souverän Axel Honneth. TRAILER (Deutsche Version) Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-05-27 | Anmeldung unter: https://www.freiluftkino-hasenheide.de/ Mittwoch, 16. Juni 2021Lecture 1: Die Arbeit (in) der DemokratieKommentar: Ruth Yeoman (University of Oxford)Donnerstag, 17. Juni 2021Lecture 2, Die Wirklichkeit der gesellschaftlichen ArbeitKommentar: Christine Wimbauer (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)Freitag, 18. Juni 2021Lecture 3: Der Kampf um die gesellschaftliche ArbeitKommentar: Andrea Komlosy (Universität Wien)Die Veranstaltung wird simultan ins Englische übersetzt.
Q&A - Whose City? Urban Struggles in the Age of Gentrification Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-04-12 | 00:00:08 What are the historical beginnings of gentrification?00:02:12 Is the movement for the decommofication of housing a way out of the dead ends of the squatter's movement by fighting again for those in dire straits?00:06:27 Is there something to distinguish emancipatory and non-emancipatory uprisings if riots are always political and have liberating effects?00:07:38 How to decommodify land and housing?
Whose City? (with Lisa Vollmer, Mustafa Dikeç, Christian Volk and Robin Celikates) Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-04-12 | 00:00 Introduction04:24 Gentrification as Strategy of Neoliberal Urbanism09:49 Current Cities: Places of Diversity or Inequality?15:24 The Divide Between Squatter's and Tenant's movements22:50 Lessons learnt from Homeless Migrant Workers25:09 The Politics of Urban Rioting32:13 Components of the Urban Political37:30 The Need for Organized Social Movements42:45 Prospects of Urban Protest47:49 Alliances for Just Housing?Critical Theory in Context - Whose City? Urban Struggles in the Age of Gentrificationwith Lisa Vollmer, Mustafa Dikeç, Christian Volk and Robin CelikatesGentrification and neoliberalization have shaped the cities we live in but also given rise to urban struggles, from uprisings to social movements advocating for rent control and tenants’ rights. What are the dynamics shaping the city as both a field and object of social and political protests and movements? What possibilities and limitations characterize the various forms of urban struggle, and to what extent are they able to create concrete alternatives and to transform urban politics? And how can urban struggles overcome the many cleavages that characterize the modern city and develop counterstrategies to neoliberal individualization and state repression?Lisa Vollmer is a researcher and lecturer at the Institute for European Urban Studies at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and a member of the Berlin-based political initiative Stadt von unten/City from Below. Her research interests include urban social movements, gentrification and housing. Among her recent publications is Strategien gegen Gentrifizierung (Schmetterling, 2018).Mustafa Dikeç is Professor of Urban Studies at the École d’urbanisme de Paris (EUP) and researcher at Malmö University. His work is located at the intersection of space and politics, urban uprisings, and temporal urban infrastructures. His most recent book is Urban Rage: The Revolt of the Excluded (Yale University Press, 2017).
Pandemic Politics (Gregg Gonsalves, Robin Celikates, Rahel Jaeggi) Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-03-18 | 00:00 Introduction02:49 Between denial of facts and naive assertions of scientific neutrality09:09 Is there a democracy based on facts?14:47 Lessons from the AIDS/HIV activism22:25 A new alliance of activists and scientists26:05 Black Lives Matter and Public Health29:18 How would a New Deal for Public Health look like?33:57 A welfare state beyond technocracy39:01 The need for global access to vaccinesCritical Theory in Context. Pandemic Politics - Contested Expertise and Activist Perspectiveswith Gregg Gonsalves, Rahel Jaeggi and Robin Celikates In this roundtable, Gregg Gonsalves discusses with Rahel Jaeggi and Robin Celikates how to fight the denial of truth by right-wing movements and authoritarian governments without falling for the naïve belief in the objectivity of value free science. Drawing from his rich experience as an AIDS/HIV activist, Gregg Gonsalves describes the vital role of social and political movements such as Black Lives Matter, both for establishing a democratic system of public health beyond technocracy and for the global distribution of vaccines needed to end the pandemic. As Rahel Jaeggi sums up at one point, the position of Gregg Gonsalves is best described as: “The medical is the political.”Gregg Gonsalves has been an AIDS activist for over 30 years. He is a global health activist and assistant professor at Yale School of Public Health.
Rassismuskritik nach Hanau (mit Vanessa E. Thompson und Serhat Karakayali) Critical Theory in Berlin 2021-02-25 | 00:00:00 Einführung00:02:52 Hanau - Zäsur oder Kontinuität des Rassismus?00:08:50 Warum wurde in Deutschland lange nicht vom Rassimus gesprochen?00:16:05 Was bedeutet es, wenn heute ganz offiziell von Rassismus gesprochen wird?00:19:50 Dimensionen des Rassismus und ihre Vermittlung00:22:50 Erfolge der Kämpfe gegen Rassismus und ihre Grenzen00:28:23 Warum reicht es nicht über Alltagsrassismus zu sprechen?00:31:51 Rassismus ohne Rassen in der Migrationsgesellschaft00:33:19 "Strukturen sind etwas, das wir nicht sehen"00:38:59 Race, Class, Gender sind verschränkt00:44:09 Die Abwehr der Rassismusanalysen ist nicht überraschend00:50:56 Perspektiven der Solidarisierung antirassitischer Initiativen00:57:20 Die Multiplikation der Rassismen kann Antirassimus auch verhindernCritical Theory in Context - Rassismuskritik nach Hanaumit Vanessa E. Thompson und Serhat Karakayali (Moderation: Christian Schmidt). Im Anschluss an die Podiumsdiskussion konnten Teilnehmende Fragen stellen. Die Publikumsdiskussion finden sie hier: youtu.be/VuMwoF7947kNach dem Terroranschlag von Hanau am 19. Februar 2020 haben vor allem die in der Initiative „19. Februar“ organisierten Opferfamilien dafür gekämpft, dass es kein Zurück zu einer vermeintlichen Normalität geben darf. Hanau muss zur Zäsur werden in der deutschen Auseinandersetzung mit Rassismus – einer Zäsur, die zugleich auf das Kontinuum rassistischer Gewalt, Diskurse, Strukturen und Subjektivierungen verweist. Wir fragen, wie sich dieses Kontinuum historisch und theoretisch fassen lässt, wie sich soziale und politische Diskurse über Rassismus verändert haben und wie sie sich verändern müssen, welche theoretischen und politischen Perspektiven der Rassismuskritik hierzu produktiv beitragen können, und wie diese sich zu aktuellen Kämpfen verhalten, von #BlackLivesMatter bis zu migrantischen Bewegungen. Dr. Vanessa E. Thompson ist wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Lehrstuhl für Vergleichende Kultur und Sozialanthropologie an der Europa-Universität Viadrina (Frankfurt Oder). Ihre Forschungsschwerpunkte sind kritische Rassismus- und Migrationsforschung, Black Studies, Gender Studies, postkolonial/dekolonial-feministische Theorien und Methodologien sowie transformative Gerechtigkeit. In ihrem Postdoc-Projekt untersucht sie Racial Profiling in Europa und alternative Formen der abolitionistischen und feministisch-transformativen Gerechtigkeit. Dr. Serhat Karakayali ist Soziologe und Leiter der Abteilung Migration am Deutschen Zentrum für Integrations- und Migrationsforschung (DeZIM). Er forscht u.a. zu Migration, Geschichte und Gegenwart illegaler Einwanderung, Praktiken und Medien der Solidarität in der Migrationsgesellschaft und der Transformation von Integrationspolitiken. Spenden an die “Initiative 19. Februar” unter: 19feb-hanau.org/spenden
