Who knows what a body can do? The COVID-19 pandemic has powerfully highlighted the tight relation of bodiliness and politics. However, in everyday politics this relation is not limited to biopolitical governmentality, claims Polish philosopher Leszek Koczanowicz. In a panel discussion with philosophical, legal and activist perspectives, the emancipatory power of the body in political spaces will be further examined.
Leszek Koczanowicz is Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Wrocław, who is especially interested in the cultural dimension of politics. On the occasion of presenting his new book The Emancipatory Power of the Body in Everyday Life (2023), and just before he will take office at the Institute for Advanced Studyin Princeton, he will be in Rotterdam on invitation by Erasmus School of Law and Erasmus School of Philosophy. Making use of Richard Shusterman’s philosophically pragmatist notion of ‘somaesthetics’, Koczanowicz will present the potential of the body as a site for remodeling political life and social change.
Maren Wehrle is Associate Professor at Erasmus School of Philosophy and specialises in phenomenology, philosophical anthropology, and feminist philosophy. As a panelist, she will be presenting a perspective on Koczanowicz’s book through the notions of embodiment, habit, and the normality and normativity of experience.
Michał Stambulski is Assistant Professor at Erasmus School of Law and focuses mainly on the legal philosophical role of (legal) institutions in relation to democracy, constitutionalism and populism. Influenced, among other things, by his experiences as a lawyer in Poland between 2015 and 2020, he will adopt a legal perspective on emancipation.
Arthur Berkhout is an author, activist, and experimental publisher. In the Netherlands, he is known for his book Anti-nihilisme: Engagement in de 21e eeuw (2022), which he wrote together with his twin brother Jarmo Berkhout. Due to his experiences on the barricades and in the squatting scene of Amsterdam his contribution to the panel will be based on the practice of political resistanceed.
This event is freely accessible for researchers, students, alumni and others interested. The panel discussion will consist of an introduction to the themes from the book The Emancipatory Power of the Body in Everyday Life and short contributions by the different panelists. Thereafter, there will be ample room for questions from the audience. Applications can be made through the form underneath, the location will be communicated later, and questions can be sent to Stijn Voogt.
Stijn Voogt
- Email address
- voogt@esphil.eur.nl
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