By Bernard E. Harcourt In Utopia 2/13, we travel to Jackson, Mississippi, the site most recently of a horrendous water crisis that has deprived residents of potable water now for over two months. A confluence of two disasters—river flooding along… Continue Reading
By Dorothea Nikolaidis “What ought to be is, and at the same time is not. If it were, it would not be what merely ought to be.” — W. F. Hegel, The Science of Logic[1] “The theoretical consciousness autonomized in ideology, and the spontaneous representation… Continue Reading
By Bernard E. Harcourt Our inaugural seminar with Étienne Balibar at Utopia 1/13 provided theoretical markers for an updated concept of “concrete utopias.” Four in particular: Partiality: Concrete utopias do not need to be as systematic and totalizing as earlier… Continue Reading
Étienne Balibar Uncovering lines of escape: towards a concept of concrete utopia in the age of catastrophes. Introductory Lecture for Utopia 13/13, “A History of the Future,” 13 Seminars at Columbia, 2022-2023, directed by Bernard E. Harcourt, September 28th, 2022… Continue Reading
By Bernard E. Harcourt Erik Olin Wright’s book Envisioning Real Utopias (2010) could serve as the epigraph to our new Utopia 13/13 series—or perhaps, even better, the “Real Utopias Project” that Wright spearheaded along with Joshua Cohen, Janet Gornick, Marcia… Continue Reading
By Bernard E. Harcourt In the concluding passages of Critique, Norm, and Utopia: A Study of the Foundations of Critical Theory, Seyla Benhabib offers a roadmap for a new conception of utopia. Benhabib traces what she calls “the demise of… Continue Reading
By Bernard E. Harcourt On November 24, 1971, Michel Foucault opened his lectures on Penal Theories and Institutions with these two words: “No introduction.” “The reason for these lectures?” Foucault asked. “One has only to open one’s eyes.”[2] At… Continue Reading