Needs are central to many social controversies, but widely regarded as non-negotiable. The latter is due to the nature-like quality of many needs, but also to the assumption that the needs, interests and desires of individuals are simply given. Critical theory offers an alternative approach that seeks to analyse the formation of needs, thus turning them into objects of critical analysis and debate. In the Summer School, we will reconstruct this approach and discuss its current relevance by confronting it with prominent positions in the contemporary philosophical debate on needs.
The Summer School will involve plenary lectures and discussions, reading sessions, small group discussions and panel debates. Only the panel debates will be open to the broader public. We will explore classical approaches such as Marx on the production of needs, Theodor Adorno's »Theses on Needs«, and Herbert Marcuse's analysis of false needs while also engaging with the work of leading contemporary theorists: Maeve Cooke, Nancy Fraser, Lawrence Hamilton, Sarah Clark Miller, and Frank Nullmeier will participate and discuss their work.
To apply for participation, graduate students and junior scholars are invited to submit a précis of their take on core issues in the debate on needs and a CV (each document 1 page max.). The précis should show which particular background knowledge and systematic positions the applicants would contribute to our joint discussions. Please submit your application in a single PDF document and make sure that the title of your precis summarizes its content.
Deadline for applications (HU Students): April 15th, 2022,
by e-mail to: CTsummerschool@hu-berlin.de
We aim to have the Summer School take place in attendance. However, if an in-person event in Berlin is not feasible this July, we will switch to an online-only format.
Participation in the Summer School is free of charge. There are some travel funds available for international students without access to institutional reimbursement; those who qualify may apply for travel and accommodation subsidies.
Please check our FAQs for further information:
http://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/summer_school/#faq
Instructors:
Maeve Cooke (University College Dublin)
Lawrence Hamilton (University of the Witwatersrand,
University of Cambridge)
Sarah Clark Miller (Pennsylvania State University)
Frank Nullmeier (Universität Bremen)
and
Robin Celikates (Freie Universität Berlin)
Rahel Jaeggi (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Christian Schmidt (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Organizers: Robin Celikates, Rahel Jaeggi, Susann Schmeißer, Christian Schmidt (Humanities and Social Change Center Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), in cooperation with the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research and the New School for Social Research (Alice Crary).
For updates and information see also:
http://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/summer-school/ |
