Events
Regaining Our Futures Public Lecture
How can political theory help us break free of the tyranny of the present?
Organized by University of Kent Brussels School of International Studies
In the early 21st century, Western societies are at the height of their affluence, scientific brilliance, and institutional sophistication. Yet, they have lost the capacity to cope with the present and navigate the future. Long-term and global policy commitments are often neglected in favour of short-term and local concerns. We are trapped in the tyranny of a present scarred by rising inequality, precarity, discrimination and autocratic rule. Can political theory help us break free?
In this presentation, I will draw on some of the conceptual innovations I have developed throughout my life’s work as a political theorist, starting with my critical engagement in the 1989 revolution in my native Bulgaria, to suggest ways of expanding our intellectual and political ambitions.
Precarity's damage to liberal democracies Public Lecture
Guest lecture at OECD Council, Paris
Organized by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Within the lecture series "New Approaches to Economic Challenges" hosted by OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann (restricted to OECD ambassadors).
Precarity, Populism, and the future of progressive alternatives Public Lecture
A keynote at the European Civic Academy
Organized by European Civic Forum
Twenty years since the first European Social Forum took place in Florence, Italy, in November 2002, the fifth edition of the European Civic Academy asks "How can democratic civil society drive systemic change?". My keynote addresses the phenomenon of political inertia in times of crisis and the capacity of the precarious multitude to become an agent of radical social transformation.
Democracy with Foresight Public Lecture
The key to socially sustainable transition in Europe (and beyond)
Organized by The European Trade Union Institute
Two decades of perpetual crisis management have depleted Europe’s capacity to envision and pursue a future. How can the European Union steer the course towards the long-view of social and ecological wellbeing in this context of incessant emergencies? Drawing on our research into sustainable European integration and progressive social transformation Kalypso Nikolaidis and I discern a path for the socially sustainable transition we now need.
Idealism without Utopias Public Lecture
Organized by LUX
Utopias kill. We are better off without them. Yet we need a powerful idealism if we are to save the environment and save our societies at the same time.
Precarity for All Public Lecture
On the political drivers and consequences of insecurity
Organized by Boston University - Center for the Study of Europe
Pracarity is a state of politically generated social vulnerability that erodes solidarities and hampers socity's capacity to govern itself. Under the right conditions, however, it could generate emancipatory energies.
Event Details
On the Constitution of Unfreedom in 21st-Century Liberal Democracies Public Lecture
Organized by The European Studies Council of the MacMillan Center, Yale University
What is the connection between the spectacular growth of inequality and the dramatic increase of rule-of-law violations in liberal democracies?
Time to decolonize the Western Mind? Public Lecture
Organized by University of Kent Brussels School of International Studies
The evils of collonialism are by now well recorded. But is the Western mind altogether, including modern social science, also in need of being decolonised, andif yes, how are we to go about it?
What really troubles the 99% Public Lecture
A guest talk at the American Library in Paris
Organized by The American Library in Paris
Precarity-for-all or growing inequality, what is the greatest social evil of our age? In a debate with French economist Lucas Chancel I will address some of the fallacies and insights in the thinking about current-day capitalism.
On 1989's lost insights Public Lecture
Organized by Central and Eastern European Forum of Young Legal, Political and Social Theorists
Keynote address at the 13th CEE Forum of Young Legal, Political and Social Theorists: "Political Imagination and Utopian Energies in Central and Eastern Europe", Charles University, Prague, 16 Sept.
Hidden Letters Public Lecture
Poetry, Precarity and Post-Covid Monuments
Organized by Just Festivals
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fault lines not only of the fiscal and economic policies in most industrialized countries, but also in the debate among poets and politicians about the role of the state and culture, the future of work and the search for an alternative beyond the capitalism-socialism dichotomy. How many of these new ideas and poems will persist once the pandemic is over? Has the time for a new approach to poetry, politics and economics finally arrived? Join us for a discussion about poetry activism, precarity and post-COVID monuments with Scottish and Bulgarian poets and political scientists.
Does inequality matter or is precarity the real problem? Public Lecture
Organized by Future of Money
Future of Money will be hosting Albena Azmanova, the author of the widely acclaimed book "Capitalism on Edge: How Fighting Precarity Can Achieve Radical Change Without Crisis or Utopia.".
Professor Azmanova makes a fascinating contribution to the debate around contemporary society arguing that the key issue of our age is precarity or insecurity rather than inequality.
Author Meets Critics Public Lecture
Panel discussion on Capitalism on Edge
Organized by Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics
The wake of the financial crisis has inspired hopes for dramatic change and stirred visions of capitalism’s terminal collapse. Yet capitalism is not on its deathbed, utopia is not in our future, and revolution is not in the cards. In Capitalism on Edge, Albena Azmanova demonstrates that radical progressive change is still attainable, but it must come from an unexpected direction.
We will have to find a way out of capitalism Interview
Organized by Die Zeit
The successes of the right showed a longing for security, especially in the pandemic, says the political scientist Albena Azmanova. The left ignore that.
Discussing with James Galbraith the future of work Public Lecture
Organized by The Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice, University of Texas, Law School
James Galbraith and Albena Azmanova debate strategies for post-Covid social transformation, focusing on the work-related contradictions of capitalism Azmanova identifies in her book Capitalism on Edge. She has argued that while the new economy does not generate good jobs for all, we are increasingly reliant on holding a job, but she rejects the two popular strategies for solving this conundrum: active job creation and universal basic income.
Zoom meeting details
Book launch: Peter Fleming's new Dark Academia: How Universities Die Public Lecture
Organized by Pluto Press
Peter Fleming's new book records the acute pathologies afflicting universities as workplaces and laboratories of knowledge and learning. Join his discussion with Will Davies and, Gargi Bhattacharyya and chair Albena Azmanova
The Future of Democracy in a World of Uncertainty Public Lecture
ENA Institute @ Delphi Economic Forum VI
Organized by ENA Institute for Alternative Policies
Nadia Urbinati (Columbia University), Göran Therborn (Cambridge University) and Albena Azmanova (Kent University) offer their diagnoses on the state of liberal democracy and their prognoses for progressive social transformation.
Event details
Do We Need a Post-Covid Economic Revolution? Public Lecture
Europa im Diskurs - Debating Europe
Organized by The Institute for Human Sciences (IWM)
The Covid-19-pandemic and the economic crisis it triggered is not only upsetting fiscal and social policies in most industrialized countries, but also the debate among economists about the role of the state, the future of work and the balance between necessary economic growth and the needs to fight global warming. How many of these new ideas will persist once the pandemic is over? Has the time for a new approach to economics finally arrived?
Event details
IWM Monthly lecture Public Lecture
Capitalism on Edge
Organized by The Institute for Human Sciences (IWM)
In discussion with Wolfgang Merkel, Albena Azmanova addresses the implications of her analysis in Capitalism on Edge for the renewal of progressive politics after the Covid-19 crisis
Pandemic, Politics and Society: book launch Public Lecture
Organized by SciencesPo
Book launch of Pandemics, Politics, and Society: Critical Perspectives on the Covid-19 Crisis, Edited by Gerard Delanty. Berlin: De Gruyter, March 2021.
Event details
How Precarity Puts Capitalism on Edge Interview
Organized by The William R. Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance
Mark Blyth and Albena Azmanova explore the roots of economic precarity, the reasons it’s more dangerous and destabilizing than inequality alone, and why addressing it will require mixing tried-and-true economic policies with a radical rethinking of how our economy is structured.
Capitalism on Edge Discussion Interview
Organized by Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
The wake of the financial crisis has inspired hopes for dramatic change and stirred visions of capitalism’s terminal collapse. Yet capitalism is not on its deathbed, utopia is not in our future, and revolution is not in the cards. In this interview I demonstrate that radical progressive change is still attainable, but it may come from an unexpected direction.
Who Sews Kamala Harris' Clothes? Public Lecture
Feminist Struggles: Individual Emancipation versus Class Liberation
Organized by The Barricade
The aesthetics of feminism have never been so trendy! Take the idea that the feminist struggle is one of individual emancipation - in that case, we can be delighted with what we've achieved: Women are conquering top management positions. They are now in the highest positions of politics - we have the first woman of color as the USA's vice president. But are these real victories for the feminist movement that aims for systemic change of society?
Capitalism on Edge Podcast Interview
Organized by Social Europe
For Albena Azmanova capitalism is not in crisis, but it is on edge—and on the point of radical transformation.
On the changing shape of globalisation and the chances for progressive radicalism Public Lecture
Organized by The Centre for the Study of Global Human Movement, Cambridge University
The 21st century has inaugurated a new stage in the life of global capitalism. Neoliberalism has been replaced by a yet darker entity, the ‘precarity capitalism’, marked by the massive spread of insecurity for the 99 per cent: for rich and poor, men and women, the well-educated and the poorly skilled, insiders and newcomers. This, creates an unprecedented opportunity for victorious radical politics.
How can diversity of thought coincide with diversity of cultures in the classroom? Public Lecture
Organized by School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Mercy College
We face a tension that is both psychological and political the more our societies diversify naturally and culturally. We often end up in echo chambers and political silos that act as a haven and give us a sense of refuge. As these divisions increase and society becomes more and more splintered, so does animosity between groups.
From Metacrisis of Capitalism to Transformative Radicalism Public Lecture
Has the Covid Pandemic Cleared the Way?
Organized by Critical Theory Roundtable
The Critical Theory Roundtable is a small, high caliber conference that represents the best of the diverse streams of critical theory in philosophy and the social sciences. It draws participants from across the US and often Europe. The conference now represents a new generation of critical theorists who are focused on diversifying the perspectives and problems in the field. This includes challenges of neoliberalism, globalization, and nationalism, and fostering creative new critical modalities in the social sciences, humanities, and arts.
Event Poster and Schedule
Capitalism on Edge: on Radical Change without Crisis, Revolution, or Utopia Public Lecture
Organized by St Antony’s College, University of Oxford
The pandemic has disclosed that precarity, above all, is what grieves the 99 per cent. Albena Azmanova, in her new book Capitalism on Edge, suggest that this presents a unique opportunity for effecting radical change without the help of a terminal crisis of capitalism, grand utopias, or a revolution. We will explore, in discussion with her, the new paths for progressive politics our historical junction has opened.
Precarity and Subversion Public Lecture
The New Language of Radicalism
Organized by Hobart and William Smith Colleges
The Guest Lecture series at Fisher Center for Gender and Justice at Hobart & William Smith Colleges launches with a discussion of precarity, the meta-crisis of capitalism and subversion as a form of radical change without a revolutionary break.
Ivan Krastev and Albena Azmanova discussing Capitalism on Edge Public Lecture
Organized by Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue
The wake of the financial crisis has inspired hopes for dramatic change and stirred visions of capitalism’s terminal collapse. Yet capitalism is not on its deathbed, utopia is not in our future, and revolution is not in the cards. In Capitalism on Edge, Albena Azmanova demonstrates that radical progressive change is still attainable, but it must come from an unexpected direction.
Corona within Precarity Capitalism Interview
Organized by Critical Theory in Berlin
Following the crisis of the health care systems and the social lockdown, the socio-economic consequences of the corona pandemic are now coming sharply to the surface. The crisis thereby encounters already existing social dynamics, problems and opportunities that condition which economic recovery will be possible and politically desired.
A new Narrative of Hope and a Global Resilience Council for UN75+25 Public Lecture
Organized by FOGGS - The Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability
Out-of-the-box ideas for the future of the United Nations debated with experts and your participation through Q&A.
You want to destroy capitalism? Punch competition! Interview
Organized by The Barricade
It is not inequality or ownership over means of production that is the greatest problem in contemporary capitalist society. It is the competitive pursuit of profit – the pressure to constantly expand your turnover, sales, profits in ever-growing competition with others. This is what Albena Azmanova – an associate professor of Kent University and a leading British political theorist, believes. In a comprehensive interview, given to The Barricade’s Maria Cernat, Azmanova discusses her maverick ideas.
Capitalism on Edge Interview
How Fighting Precarity Can Achieve Radical Change Without Utopia or Crisis
Organized by The New Books Network
Capitalism seems to many to be in a sort of constant crisis, leaving many struggling to make ends meet. This desperation was intensified in 2008, and for many never went away in spite of claims of a general economic ‘recovery.’ More recently, the tensions and shortcomings of our current socioeconomic system have been exacerbated by the COVID-crisis, with poorly compensated frontline workers struggling to stay safe in workplaces that have failed to take adequate care of their health and safety.
Convivialism. Convivialism? Event
Organized by Convivialism Transnational
As a sympathetic outsider to the convivialist position, I will question the priority they give to concerns with inequality over those with poverty as well as their endorsement of competition (why not speak of "interactions" instead). What instruments does convivialism supply for the struggle against capitalism?
The Second Convivialist Manifesto: Towards a Post-Neoliberal World
Citizens-centered Conference on the Future of Europe Event
Organized by Citizens Take Over Europe
In this discussion of the Open Letter to Angela Merkel for a citizens-centered Conference on the Future of Europe (to mark the beginning of the German EU presidency), I caution against turning democracy into a neoliberal fantasy: political elites should not be allowed to dump their responsibility onto the people, allegedly in the name of democracy.
A call for a new European social contract Event
Organized by Costas Douzinas
While supporting this appeal for a democratic social contract of the EU, I caution that our political leadership is quite apt at hijacking democracy and transforming it into a neoliberal fantasy (to use Jodi Dean's phrasing) - and an instrument deployed for the consolidation of global capitalism.
ACUNS Annual Meeting Event
UN @ 75: The Future of Partnership and Multilateralism
Organized by Academic Council on the United Nations System
I will give a paper "Precarity Capitalism, COVID-19 and the Quest(s) for Growth and Justice" to the panel: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs".
Pandemic Corona and the changing Political and Economic Scenario of the World Event
Organized by Noida International University
In an international webinar hosted by the Noida International University (India), I will address the place of the European Union in the post-pandemic geopolitical landscape: to understand how the EU might change the world, we need to understand how the EU is changing.
Event Poster and Schedule
Social crisis after Covid-19 Interview
Fighting poverty & intervening to the realm of production
Organized by Institute for Alternative Policies ENA
I speak to ENA elaborating on a series of policy proposals aiming at reducing the general precarity and insecurity of our era, which has been exacerbated by the crisis.
I argue for the overcoming of the classic redistributive approaches and for the shifting interest from inequalities to poverty and from intervention in the realm of redistribution to the realm of production.
In, Out and Shake It All About Event
EU, Brexit and the UK-Norway Comparison
Organized by University of Kent Brussels School of International Studies
The Global Europe Centre (Brussels School of International Studies) and the ARENA Centre for European Studies (University of Oslo) join forces to explore the issues of Brexit and the experience of Norway.
Marx and Europe Event
Organized by Collège Thomas More
International seminar with Etienne Balibar, Albena Azmanova and Raúl Fornet-Betancourt.
31st Council of the European Greens Event
Organized by Council of the European Green Party
I will open the session on Covid-19 and social justice with a reflection on the gravity of economic and social insecurity (precarity) as the key problem of our times and the importance of building a strong European Social Union.
The Council is the highest decision-making body of the party.
Addressing the sustainability challenge by inclusion Event
Growth - Climate - Society - Labour
Organized by Delphi Economic Forum
In this panel of scholars and thinkers, I propose that we refocus the social justice agenda on fighting precarity, and away from the growth-and-redistribution agenda which is prevailing now.
The Rise of the Global Precariat Event
Organized by POSTHOC
I discuss my new book "Capitalism on Edge: How Fighting Precarity Can Achieve Radical Change Without Crisis or Utopia".
The Individual and Community Event
Beyond the Liberal-Communitarian Debate
Organized by Foscari University of Venice
I hold a workshop "The political economy of liberal communities" focused on my concept of a 'political economy of trust', as articulated, most recently, in my book Capitalism on Edge.
The Ends of Precarity Capitalism Event
An Author Meets Critics Panel
Organized by University of Kent Brussels School of International Studies
Claus Offe, Amy, Allen, Lea Ypi and Paul Apostolidis discuss with Albena Azmanova the avenues of critique of capitalism and radical change as raised in her new book Capitalism on Edge and as they manifest in the current conjuncture. A panel convened by Azar Dakwar.
Please access the event at the event Zoom page.
Event Details and Schedule
Covid 19, democratic ownership and the future of the economy Event
Organized by Another Europe
In this session, we explore what coronavirus means for the future of public ownership and economic democracy. Will the big state stick around, and is that what we want? What would a democratic economy look like? And what should the left be saying and doing to get there?
Battlegrounds of justice - what really grieves the 99% Event
Organized by University of Iceland, EDDA Research Centre
Before the pandemic, progressive forces were mobilising under the banner of fighting inequality. The pandemic, however, has revealed that the scourge of our societies is the generalised precarity — the massive economic and social fragility that four decades of cuts to public spending created. What policies are necessary for a swift change of direction?
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Pandemic and Politics Event
COVID-19, Global Crisis and the Challenge to Humanity
Organized by University of Kent Brussels School of International Studies
In this webinar, my colleagues Adrian Pabst, Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels, and I discuss the political world of COVID-19 responses, the effectiveness of politicians, the hidden politics behind the health management and the potential of new political environments.
The Outrage Against Inequality Interview
Organized by Political Bites - School of Politics and IR, University of Kent
In the fourth episode of Political Bites, Dr Iain MacKenzie introduces Dr Alebena Azmanova from the Brussels School of International Studies, University of Kent to discuss the topic of the outrage against inequality.
An open letter to Angela Merkel on European bonds Event
Organized by Citizens Take Over Europe
For Europe Day, I will participate in a panel discussion with some of the signatories of the open letter to Merkel on European bonds, hosted by Citizens Take Over Europe.
For information and registration please visit the event's Webex registration and Facebook pages.
All events of the day will be live-streamed on YouTube at the European Democracy Lab channel.
Book Talk at Harvard University Event
(postponed)
Organized by Center for European Studies Harvard
I discuss my new book "Capitalism on Edge: How Fighting Precarity Can Achieve Radical Change Without Crisis or Utopia".
Guest lecture to the European History, Politics, and Society colloquium Event
Organized by European Institute, Columbia University
I speak about my new book Capitalism on Edge, with a special focus on the process of conceiving and executing a politically relevant and theoretically rigorous research project.
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![[e-Salon] After COVID](/images/events/540x300/2020-04-09.jpg)
[e-Salon] After COVID Event
Can we do things differently?
Organized by Full Circle House
An online salon discussion with three fantastic speakers about what we can learn from the extraordinary times in which we are suddenly living. COVID-19 has led each of us to slow down or totally halt some areas of our lives while other aspects seem to continue at the same relentless pace. Our speakers will reflect on whether this enforced slowing down can lead us to reflect critically on the world we have inadvertently built, with all its contradictions, vulnerabilities and environmental challenges; and whether it might be a time to think and act differently.
Book Launch Event
I discuss the political implications of my analysis, with Vula Tsetsi, Secretary-General of the Greens in the European Parliament, and Diederik Samsom, Head of Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Timmermans responsible for the European Green Deal.
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On "Capitalism on Edge" Interview
Organized by Zero Squared, a philosophy podcast from Zero Books
Douglas Lain and I discuss the renewal of Marxism and the prospects for radical politics: class struggle and counter-hegemony as the two available strategies of emancipation; how to subvert capitalism, rather than overthrow it.
At the edge Interview
On generalized precarity and subversive pragmatism
Organized by This Is Hell!, WNUR Chicago
It is the peculiarity of our historical time that revolution is not in the cards - so I'm asking if this is not very likely to happen, do we have to give up? I say no, we can find resources for a radical change, without the crutch of a revolution, without the crutch of crisis, without the crutch of utopia - even the wonderful socialist utopia.
Is Socialism making a comeback? Public Lecture
Organized by The Battle of Ideas festival, London
The failure of Western economies to recover fully from the 2008 crisis has encouraged some to consider the benefits of socialism and a ‘post-capitalist’ future. But there are critics who argue that every attempt to create socialist societies has ended in either failure, misery or authoritarianism.
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XVI International Political Philosophy Conference - Social Control Event
Action, Liberties, and Citizenship
Organized by Facultat de Filosofia, Universitat de Barcelona
I deliver a lecture on Populism and the Missing Crisis of Capitalism.
A social Agenda for the Greens, or how to reconcile social and environmental justice Event
Organized by European Greens
I deliver the keynote address at the European Greens/EFA convention.
Modern America: what’s behind the rise of AOC and the Squad? Public Lecture
Organized by The Battle of Ideas festival, London
In June 2018, a young Hispanic Democrat, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), caused a major upset by defeating a 10-term incumbent, Joe Crowley, in the party primary for New York's solidly Democrat 14th congressional district.
This panel of speakers, filmed at the Battle of Ideas Festival in November 2019, consider what is going on.
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Prosperity, Equality, and Nature Event
The Trilemma of Democratic Capitalism
Organized by Reset DOC
Reset DOC Seminars 2019
The Social Question in the 21st century Event
Organized by Goethe University
I present my proposal for the future research programme of the Frankfurt School.
Populism and the Transformation of Capitalism Event
Organized by Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities
On the state of European democracies Event
Organized by Prince Michael von Liechtenstein
A guest speaker at a colloquium on the state of European democracies convened by Prince Michael von Liechtenstein.
Turkey's judicial tyranny Public Lecture
Video statement in support for academics in Turkey
Organized by Albena T. Azmanova
This statement was aired at the congress Academic Freedom and Politics at the University of Munich (LMU) together with a statement by Noam Chomsky and a statement by Steven Pinker.
Petition against the violence in Catalonia Interview
Organized by Bulgarian National Television
Interview by the Bulgarian television on the Azmanova's initiative for a petition against the violence in Catalonia
Commentary for the Bulgarian Television about the 2017 Catalan Independence Referendum Interview
Organized by Bulgarian National Television
The EU authorities are condoning rule of law violations in Spain while being critical of such violations in Poland and Hungary
Event details
On populism Event
Organized by Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana
A guest talk on populism hosted by the Philosophy department of the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana.
The Populist Upsurge and the Decline of Diversity Capital Event
Organized by Reset DOC
Reset DOC Seminars 2017
A keynote speaker at the international graduate conference Event
Organized by The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Intervention at the symposium on the refugee crisis in Europe Event
Organized by Universität Duisburg-Essen, Institut für Philosophie
The Crisis of the Crisis of Europe Event
Organized by The British Academy
British Academy symposium on the future of the EU after Brexit
Religion, Righs and the Public Sphere Event
Istanbul Seminars
Organized by Reset DOC
While religiously inspired social movements, political parties, and charity institutions make an important contribution to society in terms of civil life and social cohesion, every religion can also play a negative role in radicalizing identities, in making compromises more difficult, and provoking violence and wars.
On Bureaucratic Theocracy and the Right to Politics Event
Organized by National University of Singapore
NUS 2016 Political Theory Symposium
Post-Neoliberal Capitalism? Interview
Organized by Against the Grain, KPFA, Berkeley, California
Where does capitalism stand today? If the system is crisis-ridden and hasn’t delivered the goods to large sectors of the population, why aren’t we in a revolutionary moment? And what has happened to the neoliberal version of capitalism that first emerged in the 1970s? Albena Azmanova contends that we’ve entered a new stage of capitalism, one in which a few are handed opportunities and the rest are made to shoulder the risks.
On the EU's Ateleological Legitimacy Event
Organized by Center for European Studies Harvard
I discuss the nature of EU legitimacy - as European integration has no purpose other than the socially responsible rule.
Is Europe Boring Public Lecture
Organized by The Battle of Ideas festival, London
This short, terrific offering is far from boring as speakers do battle over why the European project might indeed bore us. From dubious claims that it's boring due to its success, to fresh insights on our deliberate exclusion since its inception, the debate gets heated.
On "The Scandal of Reason" Interview
A Critical Theory of Political Judgment
Organized by Columbia University Press
"The Scandal of Reason" Interview
A Critical Theory of Political Judgment
Organized by Rorotoko, cutting-edge intellectual interviews
On the Politics of Fear Interview
Organized by Reset DIALOGUES
Far-right populism and anti-establishment protest erupted already in the affluent 1990s. How come? I discuss my research into the political economy of precarity capitalism which I believe is generating the politics of fear.