21 | What is Critical Theory Doing? w/ Dr. Prof. Robin Celikates

08/28/21 • 68 min

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In this episode we are joined by Professor Robin Celikates to discuss the big “method” question in critical theory: What is it doing, and why? Since Marx, this tradition has had a special connection to emancipatory struggles, so we talk about how that works (or doesn’t) in relation to contemporary debates about civil disobedience and migration.

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References:

Robin Celikates, 2019. “Constituent Power Beyond Exceptionalism: Irregular migration, disobedience, and (re-)constitution,” Journal of International Political Theory 15(1): 67-81.

Robin Celikates. 2018. “Slow Learners? On Moral Progress, Social Struggle, and Whig History,” "Forms of Life, Progress, and Social Struggle", in Amy Allen/ Eduardo Mendieta (eds.), From Alienation to Forms of Life, University Park: Penn State University Press, 137-155.

Robin Celikates, “Radical Civility. Social Struggles and the Domestication of Dissent," in: Julia Christ et al. (eds.), Debating Critical Theory, London: Rowman & Littlefield 2020, 83-94.

Music: Vintage Memories by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.com

patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil

References:

Robin Celikates, 2019. “Constituent Power Beyond Exceptionalism: Irregular migration, disobedience, and (re-)constitution,” Journal of International Political Theory 15(1): 67-81.

Robin Celikates, “Radical Civility. Social Struggles and the Domestication of Dissent," in: Julia Christ et al. (eds.), Debating Critical Theory, London: Rowman & Littlefield 2020, 83-94.

Music: Vintage Memories by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.com

Previous Episode

20 | David Walker and the Politics of Judgment

For this episode we discuss David Walker’s 1830 radical anti-slavery tract An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World and Melvin Rogers’s 2015 article “David Walker and the Political Power of the Appeal.” We explore Walker’s political philosophy of judgment and its relationship to normativity, solidarity, and reconstructing civic society. Walker offers an insightful critique of the insidious pathologies race introduces into Western political formations. We cover questions of universalism, the contentious role of violence in political change, and what it means to inherit a political tradition.
patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil
References:
David Walker. 1830. An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. Found at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeaamericanstudies/15/
Melvin Rogers. 2015. “David Walker and the Political Power of the Appeal.” Political Theory 43(2): 208-233.
Music: Vintage Memories by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.com

Next Episode

22 | The Meaning of Disability (with Dr. Joel Michael Reynolds)

In this episode we are joined by Joel Michael Reynolds for a wide-ranging discussion about disability theory. We dig into the relationship between disability and white supremacy, the idea of politics as differential capacitation, genomics and medicalization, justice as equity, and more. Naturally we put full-bore social constructivism on blast. Leftists gotta be materialists, you know?

patreon.com/leftofphilosophy | @leftofphil

References:

Joel Michael Reynolds, “The Meaning of Ability and Disability.” Journal of Speculative Philosophy 33.3 (2019).

Joel Michael Reynolds, “Genopower: On Genomics, Disability, and Impairment.” Foucault Studies 31 (forthcoming).

Joel Michael Reynolds, “Disability and White Supremacy.” Critical Philosophy of Race (forthcoming).

Joel has also graciously compiled a comprehensive list of literature related to disability theory and politics, which you can find here.

Music: Vintage Memories by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.com