Uploaded June 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
How should we inhabit anew and share as equitably as possible a planet whose life-support system has been so severely damaged by human activities as to be in dire need of repair? Undoubtedly, this concern will be at the center of any debate on the futures of life and reason in this century. Indeed, questions of cohabitation, of sustainability and durability, of the interlacing of human history and the Earth’s history are far from abstract concerns. If there is no significant adjustment in how we conduct our lives, parts of the Earth are likely to become inhospitable in the near future. Drawing on African cosmogonies and the power of African aesthetic and figural objects, this lecture will reflect on the conditions of possibility of a new, truly planetary and inclusive Earth ethics.
Lecture by the 2024 Holberg Laureate, Achille Mbembe.
Achille Mbembe is the 2024 Holberg Laureate. Mbembe is a Research Professor of History and Politics at Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Witwatersrand. He is also Director of the Innovation Foundation for Democracy. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the British Academy, Mbembe is the author of ten books and his work has been translated into 17 languages. His latest book is La communauté terrestre (Paris, La Découverte, 2023).
Photo: Chanté Schatz, University of the Witwatersrand
How should we inhabit anew and share as equitably as possible a planet whose life-support system has been so severely damaged by human activities as to be in dire need of repair? Undoubtedly, this concern will be at the center of any debate on the futures of life and reason in this century. Indeed, questions of cohabitation, of sustainability and durability, of the interlacing of human history and the Earth’s history are far from abstract concerns. If there is no significant adjustment in how we conduct our lives, parts of the Earth are likely to become inhospitable in the near future. Drawing on African cosmogonies and the power of African aesthetic and figural objects, this lecture will reflect on the conditions of possibility of a new, truly planetary and inclusive Earth ethics.
Lecture by the 2024 Holberg Laureate, Achille Mbembe.
Achille Mbembe is the 2024 Holberg Laureate. Mbembe is a Research Professor of History and Politics at Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Witwatersrand. He is also Director of the Innovation Foundation for Democracy. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the British Academy, Mbembe is the author of ten books and his work has been translated into 17 languages. His latest book is La communauté terrestre (Paris, La Découverte, 2023).
Photo: Chanté Schatz, University of the Witwatersrand
