Lecture
Thursday, Aug 29, 2024, 3:00 PM
Einstein Forum, Potsdam

Sankar Muthu

(Chicago)

Enlightenment Diagnoses of Global Oppression. On the Dystopia of Self-Hatred

A theoretically rich strand of Enlightenment’s critical inquiry about global oppression, which comprises texts by (among others) Rousseau, Diderot, Adam
Smith, Kant, and Cugoano, diagnosed a deep set of pathologies at work in the modern, interconnected, commercial globe from the 1490s onward, well before
the emergence of the modern world. In these eighteenth-century texts, the global condition is best considered as a contemptuous self-criticism that can be
characterized as self-hatred. The dystopic quality of these writings consists not of an imagined and feared future, but first and foremost of the realities of the
past and the present. I will discuss three levels of self-criticism: The first is about sedentary, agrarian societies (sometimes known as civil societies or as ‘civilizations’), which analyzes both their internal hierarchical characteristics and external (usually bellicose and imperial) relations. The second level concerns modern Europe’s global relations with the non-European world; the focus is often upon the development of oceanic, transcontinental practices. The third level considers humanity itself as a species at every moment of its history, in particularly inflamed and corrupted ways as a result of the first and second levels of analysis, humanity’s proclivity to engage in—and to institutionalize—various forms of de humanization.

Sankar Muthu is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. His research and teaching interests in political theory and the history of political thought focus especially upon Enlightenment ideas and their legacies. He is the author of Enlightenment Against Empire (2003) and the editor of (and contributor to) Empire and Modern Political Thought (2012). He is currently researching and writing two books on Enlightenment political thought: (1) Global Oppression and Enlightenment Resistance, which concerns Enlightenment-era philosophical analyses of global connections (such as travel, trade, communication, and exchange), cosmopolitan society, transnational oppression, and transcontinental institutions (including networks of slavery and joint stock trading companies). (2) Inhuman Humanity in Enlightenment Political Thought, which investigates the manner in which humanity and inhumanity (or de-humaniza-
tion) are related to one another across an array of French, German, Scottish, and English texts of the mid to late eighteenth century.

The event will be held in English

Vortrag im Rahmen der Tagung Enlightenment in the World
Lecture at the conference Enlightenment in the World