What are the crucial conflicts of our time? What hopes and wishes for a better future are expressed within these conflicts? The podcast Critical Theory in Context combines analysis of the present with perspectives on societal transformation. We host conve
Talking and thinking about race and racism has once again become a contested terrain of social, political and also symbolic struggles. The concept of structural racism lies at the center of these debates. Anti-racist struggles and social movements as well as a new wave of critical theorizing about race and racism have focused our attention on this concept, emphasizing the structural nature of racism. But there is also a massive public backlash against (largely imaginary constructions of) critical race theory which focuses on this term, attacking its presumably unscientific and ideological character. Where are we in the debates and conceptual struggles about racism today? What is structural racism? What are the practical and theoretical advantages and disadvantages of different concepts of racism? What are the practical and theoretical advantages and disadvantages of different concepts of racism? And how do they allow us to fight racism effectively? These are the question Robin Celikates discusses with Magali Bessone and César Cabezas in this episode.
In this special episode of Critical Theory in Context, Robin Celikates is joined by Greg Yudin, a prominent voice of the Russian anti-war protests. With Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the focus is rightly on what is happening on the ground, in Ukraine, and on the international reaction to the war. At the same time, Russians around the world and in Russia itself have come out to protest against the war and the Putin government. In the conversation, Robin and Greg discuss the reactions of the Russian population to the war in Ukraine, possible fractures within the Russian elite, the prospects for resistance, and the responses of the Western left to this war.
In dieser Folge spricht Robin Celikates mit Kristina Lepold und Marina Martinez Mateo über Anspruch und Zielsetzung des von ihnen herausgegebenen Readers zum Thema „Critical Philosophy of Race.“ Neben einer umfassenden und instruktiven Einleitung der Herausgeberinnen versammelt der Band eine Auswahl einschlägiger Texte dieser noch jungen Disziplin, um sie - zum Teil in deutscher Erstübersetzung – einem deutschsprachigen Publikum zugänglich zu machen. In dem Gespräch geht es unter anderem um die Fragen, welchen Beitrag die Philosophie zur begrifflichen Erfassung des Rassismus leisten kann; welche Schwierigkeiten und Herausforderungen sich für die Übertragung der US-amerikanischen Diskussion und ihrer Kategorien auf den europäischen und den deutschen Kontext ergeben; und welche Implikationen die Critical Philosophy of Race spezifisch für die Kritische Theorie haben kann – und haben sollte
Die Folge bietet einen Einblick in die Diskussionen eines internen Workshops zu der Frage: „Welche Gesellschaftstheorie braucht eine Kritische Theorie heute?“, der im Rahmen des At-Work Formats des Centers for Humanities and Social Change in Berlin im Dezember 2021 veranstaltet wurde. Das Anliegen des Workshops war es, verschiedene Ansätze zu diskutieren, an die heutige Versuche, eine umfassende Gesellschaftstheorie zu entwerfen, wieder anknüpfen könnten. Beteiligt am Workshop waren Lillian Cicerchia, Victor Kempf, Kristina Lepold, Kolja Möller, Dirk Quadflieg, Hartmut Rosa, Martin Saar und Titus Stahl. Christian Schmidt spricht mit Dirk Quadflieg, Kolja Möller und Titus Stahl, um einige Einblicke in die Diskussion unseres Workshops zu ermöglichen und einige der vorgestellten Thesen zu vertiefen. Rahel Jaeggi präsentiert vorab die einleitenden Thesen, die zur Vorbereitung des Workshops im Rahmen der Diskussionen des Centers for Humanities and Social Change entwickelt wurden.
In this episode we discuss what "fossil fascism" is and how dangerous it can become. What are the positions of the far right on the ecological crisis – and how have they evolved historically? How does right-wing ideology operate on issues of ecology? What are the current trends that may enable a “fossil fascism”? And what lessons can we draw from these analyses to counter this danger more effectively?
The blind dynamic of capital accumulation decides many of the most fundamental social questions behind our backs. Now, it is high time to put them on the political agenda. In our first episode Nancy Fraser debates her recent analysis of capitalism's ecological contradictions and crises tendencies with Rahel Jaeggi. What does the acute threat of climate catastrophe mean for our relation to nature? What kind of crisis is it that we are facing and why is capitalism unable to solve it? How are the manifold struggles over ecology, anti-racism, care-work and democracy interconnected? Join us for answers in this first episode of Critical Theory in Context with Nancy Fraser and Rahel Jaeggi.