Browse Hierarchy ULC334: Contemporary Theory I: Critique

Critical theory can be thought of as a philosophical mode of reflecting on the forms of power that structure our daily lives. From our embodied subjectivity and the institutional ways in which we are policed, to understanding what makes us human and the ethics of engaging with the other, this course offers an introduction to seminal thinkers across twentieth century thought who have helped shape the politics of identity, agency, power, and belonging. The course will explore five key concepts in contemporary theory ¿ identity and gender politics (Butler, Spivak), power and policing (Foucault, Rancière), biopolitics (Foucault, Mbembe), self/other (Derrida, Khatibi, Badiou), the human and posthuman (Braidotti, Harraway) ¿ in order to navigate the tension between how we live now and how we might live differently. Central to these wide-ranging ideas are questions around how the individual operates in the collective space they inhabit. How does the lived experience of Paris as a host city contribute to theoretical questions of belonging or alienation? What forms of (dis)empowerment are made possible by the multicultural city? How can we conceptualise the ethics and emotions of each encounter, and what lasting legacy might they leave on the body? The transformative potential of these theories should offer students an introductory competence to useful critical concepts that will be applied in the second half of this course on contemporary crisis.