Adam Kotsko

First, I recently appeared on a podcast where we discussed Agamben’s thought, including his very controversial writings about the emergency measures related to covid-19. This was my first opportunity to address the latter issue in an extended way, and hence may be of particular interest. Second, a very generous review of my book Agamben’s Philosophical Trajectory has appeared in the Marx & Philosophy Review of Books.

I was very excited to receive my author copies of Agamben’s Philosophical Trajectory today! The beautiful cover is complimented by a nice matte finish and an attractive compact size.

The American Academy of Religion is holding a virtual conference this year. The Theology and Continental Philosophy group will be holding one session where younger scholars will be presenting “works in progress.” It will be held on Tuesday, December 1, from 1:45-3:15pm, with a business meeting to follow. This will be in place of our planned programming for this year, which will be delayed until 2021, when we can hopefully do it in person. Description:

This “works in progress” panel will showcase the writing of three scholars whose thinking provides an opportunity to reflect on theology and the continental philosophy of religion in inter- or cross-disciplinary contexts. Each scholar’s work will be pre-distributed in advance of the panel. This will allow attendees at the panel to have substantive conversations with presenters about these works in progress. Those interested in accessing the pre-distributed papers can email the co-chairs of the Theology and Continental Philosophy of Religion Unit (Beatrice Marovich and Adam Kotsko). Biko Mandela Gray, Assistant Professor of American Religion at Syracuse University will present a project called “Now it is all Now” that thinks with Toni Morrison and Christina Sharpe about the relationship between blackness and white time. Gray argues that blackness is “always now”, which means that, to the normative world, blackness has no temporal duration; it is only, always, and already, death and this now-ness saves white time where “progress” and “reform” rely upon forgetting that the country has always killed black people. Gray ultimately suggests that blackness is a criticism of Heidegger’s Dasein, in its predilection with futurity and the projects that such futurity demands. An Yountae, Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at California State University, Northridge will share a chapter from a book manuscript project that is currently in process. He will reflect on Frantz Fanon’s critique of religion and coloniality by reading Fanon’s use of phenomenology alongside the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Brandy Daniels, Assistant Professor of Theology at the University of Portland, will share an excerpt from a book manuscript in progress, Who is the ‘We’?, which explores the ways in which accounts and practices of formation in modern Christianity, particularly within feminist theologies, impact gender and sexual difference. The pre-circulated chapter will discuss the work of Michel Foucault, in conversation with Lynne Huffer.

From both the Edinburgh University Press website or, for the ethically compromised, Amazon.

This afternoon I submitted the manuscript for my essay collection, What is Theology? The Constructive Task Between Philosophy and Genealogy, to Fordham University Press. While I still need to go through peer review, this is obviously a major step forward.

A small preview in the form of the current table of contents:

Continue reading “Manuscript submitted for review: What is Theology?“

Fans of nasal mumbling will be thrilled to learn that this week I am featured on not one, but two podcasts: the Political Theology Network’s Assembly, where I discuss Carl Schmitt with Amaryah Armstrong and Zac Settle, and Grad School Vonnegut, where I discuss Kurt Vonnegut’s first published short story, “Report on the Barnstrom Effect” (and HBO’s Watchmen) with Gerry Canavan and Aaron Bady.

I received my translator copies of Agamben’s The Kingdom and the Garden yesterday. You can order a copy here — in my view it is one of the most original of Agamben’s works since The Use of Bodies, of particular interest to students of theology.

Over at An und für sich, we are having a book event on Thomas Lynch’s Apocalyptic Political Theology. You can find the introductory post here, and you can follow the subsequent posts using either this tag or checking the schedule at the end of the introduction, which will be updated with links as each post appears.

I have a new article up at Boston Review on the idea that academics have failed to “make the case” for their value