Posts Tagged ‘Judith Butler’

June 16th, 2011

Religion und Öffentlichkeit

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The German translation, by Michael Adrian, of The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere will be published by Suhrkamp Verlag in October.

March 16th, 2011

Religion’s many powers

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To say that religion has power in the public sphere is not to say that it can be easily absorbed or that it should be. It is a basis for radical challenges and radical questions; it brings enthusiasm, passion, indignation, outrage, and love. If enthusiasm is sometimes harnessed to unreflective conviction, passion is also vital to critical engagement with existing institutions and dangerous trends. The public sphere and the practice of public reason have power too. And they not only take from religion but also offer it opportunities to advance by reflection and critical argument.

March 2nd, 2011

El poder de la religión

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El poder de la religión en la esfera pública, the Spanish language edition of The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere, will be released late this month by Trotta Editorial.

August 5th, 2010

The secularization of secularism

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In the newest issue of Theory, Culture & Society, British sociologist Gregor McLennan takes a closer look at the “postsecular turn” in contemporary social theory. He argues that this “turn”—if indeed it amounts to one—finds expression in three broad trends: genealogical critique, neo-vitalism, and postcolonial antihistoricism. He mainly discusses these trends with regard to the work of three scholars, each representing one of the trends: Talal Asad, William Connolly, and Dipesh Chakrabarty (though Rosi Braidotti and Judith Butler are also mentioned, as representatives of neo-vitalism and antihistoricism, respectively). While these theoretical developments go some way in critiquing the problematic linkages between secular epistemology and political arrangements, McLennan argues that they are each riddled with inconsistencies. Rather than staking out an antisecular position, these perspectives remain within secularism, contributing to the “secularization of secularism.”

March 16th, 2010

“A Carefully Crafted F**k You”

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At Guernica, Nathan Schneider interviews Judith Butler.

March 10th, 2010

The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere

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In The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere, due out spring 2011 from Columbia University Press and the SSRC, Judith Butler, Jürgen Habermas, Charles Taylor, and Cornel West interrogate the specificity of religious and  secular reasons, dispositions, and ethical orientations in relation to democratic politics, each taking up a different strand of the complex intertwinement of religion and the public sphere in the contemporary world.

March 4th, 2010

Judith Butler on Judaism, Israel, and anti-occupation politics

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In Haaretz, Judith Butler gives a long and personal interview to American-Israeli filmmaker Udi Aloni.

December 4th, 2009

Rethinking secularism: The power of religion in the public sphere

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On October 22, 2009, over 1000 people gathered in the vast and venerable Great Hall at New York City’s Cooper Union to listen to four of our time’s preeminent public intellectuals discuss the place of religion in contemporary politics and public life. We have gathered links to recordings, transcripts and other materials related to this event, as well as relevant posts from the archives of The Immanent Frame. We encourage you to browse, read, listen and, of course, contribute your own reflections to our ongoing discussion of “the power of religion in the public sphere.”

December 4th, 2009

Judith Butler and Cornel West in conversation

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rethinkingIn a recent symposium held by the Institute for Public Knowledge at NYU, the Social Science Research Council and the Humanities Institute at Stony Brook University, Judith Butler, Jürgen Habermas, Charles Taylor, and Cornel West came together to discuss the project of “rethinking secularism.” Today we are posting audio and a transcript of the discussion that took place between Butler and West, moderated by Eduardo Mendieta, in which the two leading thinkers exchange thoughts on the ethics and limitations of citizenship, as well as temporality, memory, and the problematics of progress. (Listen to the paper presentations that preceded this discussion here and add your own voice to the discussion here.)

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October 23rd, 2009

Open thread: The power of religion in the public sphere

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Four of the world’s leading public intellectuals came together yesterday in the historic Great Hall at Cooper Union to discuss “Rethinking Secularism.” In an electrifying symposium convened by the Institute for Public Knowledge at NYU, the Social Science Research Council and the Humanities Institute at Stony Brook University, Judith Butler, Jürgen Habermas, Charles Taylor, and Cornel West gave powerful accounts of religion in the public sphere. The Immanent Frame invites you to respond to the symposium presentations by submitting comments in the space below. UPDATE: Listen to audio of the event here.