Feminist theorist Donna Haraway and literature-and-science researcher Bruno Clarke pay tribute to evolutionary theorist Lynn Margulis. In this special edition of An Evening With, they explore Margulis’s pioneering theories of symbiosis and Gaia, discuss their implications for current research in sympoiesis and posthumanism, and celebrate the publication of Writing Gaia: The Scientific Correspondence of James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis. The event will be moderated by Rosi Braidotti.
Donna Haraway is Professor Emerita at the University of California-Santa Cruz.
Lynn Margulis (1938-2011) fought against the orthodoxies of genetic determinism and promoted the concept of symbiosis as the fundamental process uniting biology and ecology. Margulis also collaborated with James Lovelock to develop and promote the Gaia hypothesis, which in her view sees Gaia as the planetary sum of all symbioses.
Bruno Clarke is the Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professor of Literature and Science at Texas Tech University.
Rosi Braidotti is Emerita Professor at the University of Utrecht and affiliated to the Nieuwe Instituut.
This event is organised in collaboration with the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment of TU Delft. TU Delft is organising a masterclass with Donna Haraway on 8 December 2023. For more information, visit the website of TU Delft.
The Master Class is held in conjunction with Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, the host of ‘An Evening With Donna Haraway, Bruno Clarke and Rosi Braidotti’ on Thursday, 7th December, the ‘Posthuman Symbioses Masterclass’ on 8th December at BK/TU Delft is open to a maximum of 100 participating MSc students and PhD candidates.
The Masterclass is organised around two sessions where a total of 12 selected students will be given the opportunity to deliver a brief pitch presentation of their research (maximum of 5 slides, 10 minutes) with a following discussion round. The event is conceived as an intergenerational experience of ‘learning-with’ Haraway and Braidotti as leading (eco)feminist/posthumanist theorists, and (PhD) students with a keen interest in adopting and adapting their approaches in their own research and designerly work. The wider intention is to generally foster inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches to architecture and urban design that embrace the life sciences or humanities, and especially posthuman/sympoietic approaches, situated forms of knowledge, and ‘minor’ angles.
“Posthuman Feminism is astonishingly wide-ranging and characteristically impressive in its contemporary relevance. Attending closely to submerged knowledge traditions including Indigenous and Black perspectives, Braidotti enriches our understanding of both posthumanism and feminism by showing how they are mutually generative and intimately imbricated. Everyone who engages with ideas emerging in these areas will need to know what this book has to say.”
Simone Bignall, University of Technology Sydney
“This profound and energising book is uncannily insightful: read it as a talisman against the present and as a map out of its baleful conditions.”
In a context marked by the virulent return of patriarchal and white supremacist attitudes, a new generation of feminist activists are continuing the struggle: these are very feminist times. But how do these and other movements relate to the contemporary posthuman condition?
In this important new book, Rosi Braidotti examines the implications of the posthuman turn for feminist theory and practice. She defines the posthuman turn as a convergence between posthumanism on the one hand and post-anthropocentrism on the other, and she examines their complex relationship and joint impact. Braidotti claims that mainstream posthuman scholarship has neglected feminist theory, while in fact feminism is one of the precursors of the posthuman turn, through diverse social movements and political traditions. Posthuman Feminism is an analytic and creative response to contemporary conditions and a call to action. It highlights the constraints but also the potentialities available to feminist political subjects as they confront the ever-growing injustices of sexism, racism, ecocide and neoliberal capitalism.
This bold new text by a leading feminist philosopher will be of great interest to students and scholars throughout the humanities and social sciences.
On the 6th of February 2023 the online book launch of the Posthuman Glossary will take place.
Join us in celebrating its release with several contributors and the Glossary’s editors – Professor Rosi Braidotti, Dr. Emily Jones, and Goda Klumbytė.
The notion of the posthuman continues to both intrigue and confuse, not least because of the huge number of ideas, theories and figures associated with this term. More Posthuman Glossary provides a way in to the dizzying array of posthuman concepts, providing vivid accounts of emerging terms. It is much more than a series of definitions, however, in that it seeks to imagine and predict what new terms might come into being as this exciting field continues to expand. A follow-up volume to the brilliant interventions of Posthuman Glossary (2018), this book extends and elaborates on that work, particularly focusing on concepts of race, indigeneity and new ideas in radical ecology. It also includes new and emerging voices within the new humanities and multiple modes of communicating ideas.
This is an indispensible glossary for those who are exploring what the non-human, inhuman and posthuman might mean in the 21st century.
The celebration will take place online via TEAMS, a link will be distributed in due course.
On Thursday the 10th of November, Professor Rosi Braidotti will give a free lecture from 8–9.30 pm at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam. All are cordially invited to attend the lecture.
Explore the rhythms of politics and activism through a conversation about music with philosopher Rosi Braidotti and host Shay Kreuger, and join the next iteration of Submerged Heritage, where invited guest dr. Daphina Misiedjan explores the situation surrounding the Brokopondo lake in Suriname.
Thursday Night Live! is a weekly evening devoted to burning questions in architecture, design and digital culture, featuring leading speakers from home and abroad. Het Nieuwe Café serves a meal, there’s music from DJs or live perfomers, the museum is open for free and our Detour Guides (aka tour guides) show you around the exhibitions. Meet people, be inspired and join the discussion!
You can find further details regarding the event linked below:
Rosi Braidotti en Shay Kreuger keren terug voor het derde evenement in hun reeks gesprekken over muziek. Deze keer bekijken ze hoe muziek sterke stemmen kan dragen en dromen van verandering kan verspreiden. Hun gesprek verkent de ritmes van politiek en activisme die de stad hebben opgeschud.
In this interview with Marjorie van Elven for the DUB digital news page of Utrecht University, prof. Rosi Braidotti reflects on her career at Utrecht University, and discusses her aspirations for her future, as well as the future of the world. She discusses the state of the world and the rights of women, as well as the concerning increase of far-right parties in the political landscape.
On Monday June 13, 2022, Distinguished University Professor Rosi Braidotti formally retired with Utrecht University and gave her farewell valedictory lecture Affirmative Ethics: We Are Rooted But We Flow in the Aula of the Academiegebouw.
The lecture was preceded by a celebratory conference in the Belle van Zuylenzaal. Colleagues and former students from all over the world looked back on, but also looked forward with, Rosi Braidotti’s important body of work in the Humanities. She has been an iconic role-model for many students and researchers both inside and outside academia. Her critical yet affirmative thought is rooted in feminism, nomadism, and posthumanism. Her books offer insight into the complexity of contemporary society and culture and inspire readers to commit to socially sustainable systems. Rosi’s many publications, lectures, and workshops have been highly influential within academic institutions, policymaking, and European networks, as well as projects and networks of feminist and the LBTGQ+ activists, and art and curatorial practices. Rosi firmly believes in intergenerational solidarity, emphasizing the role played by young people, especially women, to address the global challenges that we are collectively facing.
Both events have been livestreamed, and you are invited to watch the recording of the lecture.
The link to watch the lecture, Affirmative Ethics: We Are Rooted But We Flow, is here
In light of her retirement from Utrecht University, DUB conducted and interview with Prof. Rosi Braidotti in which she reflects on her time at Utrecht University, her future, and the future of our world. You can find the interview, ‘A war between feminism and the LBGTQ+ movements plays into the hands of the Right’, here
Met terugwerkende kracht (‘With retroactive force’) is an audio tour and podcast from Utrecht University in honour of International Women’s Day. Across six episodes they take you across locations with overlooked histories and listen to people with a story.
In the second episode Rosi Braidotti walks you through TivoliVredenburg to discuss feminism and punk. The show can be listened to herewith an English language transcript here
You can find further information (in Dutch) on the university website, here.
On Friday May 20th, Het Nieuwe Instituut invites you to the presentation of Posthuman Feminism (Polity Press, 2022), the new book by philosopher Rosi Braidotti. It is presented in interaction with live music, that runs as a score through her book by means of reflection, comments and annotation.
About the book:“Posthuman Feminism is an analytic and creative response to contemporary conditions and a call to action. It highlights the constraints but also the potentialities available to feminist political subjects as they confront the ever-growing injustices of sexism, racism, ecocide and neoliberal capitalism.”
The booklaunch also marks the public launch of The New Academy, a collaboration between Het Nieuwe Instituut and Rosi Braidotti. The New Academy focuses on the transition of Rotterdam towards a green and inclusive city that takes the cognitive capital of its human and non-human citizens (such as plants, animals, technology) as a catalyst.
We are delighted to invite you to this festive launch in the institute’s Auditorium. Afterwards, Rosi Braidotti is signing copies of her new book at NAi Booksellers and there are drinks & bites at Het Nieuwe Café.
Applications are now open for the 2022 Posthuman Summer school! The theme this time is ‘The Posthuman Life of Methods.’
‘The 2022 intensive Summer School course aims to dig deeper into the methodological innovations introduced by posthuman critical theory, defined as the convergence of critiques of Humanism and critiques of Anthropocentrism. This critical approach introduces new themes and objects of enquiries, but what does it do in terms of methods and approaches? What sort of qualitative transformations are entailed by a critical posthuman framework? Thew course will explore approaches such as: transversal methodologies; neo-materialism; the new empiricisms; current textual practices; non-representational theories; inter/trans and post-disciplinarity; methods to exit colonialism; critical feminist theory and art practices as research methods. The participants will be invited to discuss and present work related to their own research topics and experiences.’
The course will take place entirely online and will be sub-divided into five groups across three time zones. Places are allocated on a first come first served basis so it is recommended to apply early.
Distinguished University Professor Rosi Braidotti has received a Humboldt Research Award. Every year, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation selects up to 100 Humboldt Research Awards. This Award is granted to internationally leading researchers from all disciplines, working outside Germany, in recognition of their life accomplishments in research and teaching to date.
Rosi Braidotti adds: “My research collaboration with Prof. Casper-Hehne and her team at Göttingen University has been extremely productive and forward-looking. We share a commitment to highlight the importance of the Humanities to the contemporary world, stressing both the strength of their traditions and the force of their interdisciplinary creativity. We especially care for the social relevance of the field in Europe today and its ability to address the great technological challenges of our times in a spirit of social and environmental justice.”
The Humboldt Research Awards will be officially presented to the winners during the Humboldt Foundation’s annual meeting in Berlin, on June 24-26, 2022, at an awards ceremony hosted by the President of the Foundation, which will be followed by a reception hosted by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany.
ment of TU Delft. TU Delft is organising a masterclass with Donna Haraway on 8 December 2023. For more information, visit the website of TU Delft.
