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In August 2020 French philosopher of technology and the Anthropocene Bernard Stiegler passed away. After a bifurcating personal and intellectual trajectory, Stiegler’s has been recognised as a major voice in contemporary critical theory over the past three decades. In his work, Stiegler offers a radical and novel reconsideration of concepts such as technology, the ‘pharmakon’ (Derrida) and individuation (Simondon) and introduces profoundly original thoughts on the ‘Entropocene’ and the ‘Negentropocene,’ ‘pharmakology,’ the rise of automation, economic and psycho-social disruption and care. In the work that was interrupted by this passing, Stiegler has demonstrated to be a pivotal thinker of the environmental crisis, its affective consequences, of a politics up to the task of facing catastrophe and of the effects for the (im)possibility of critical thinking in such a context (his latest book in French concerns ‘the lesson of Greta Thurnberg’). In his rereadings of Heidegger, Derrida, Deleuze and Ahrendt among others, Stiegler proposes new ways of thinking as a form of care. 

The study group will offer participants the opportunity to familiarise themselves with Stiegler’s thought through close readings of a selection of his texts. We will ask ourselves how to ‘care’ for Stiegler’s ideas and legacy, and to put these to use in contemporary critical theory and cultural analysis. 

The study group is open to academics, researchers, PhD students, rMa students and all those interested in exploring Stiegler’s work. rMa students may participate for credits. We will meet starting from late September/October (no fixed dates; depending on the number of participants we’ll meet on/offline). 

For more information and registration, please contact Joost de Bloois: j.g.c.debloois@uva.nl