Carl Schmitt and Space, 3 December 2010

Socio-spatial analysis chair group, Wageningen university

Room GAIA 1, Gaia Building, Wageningen University

Map and travel description: http://www.wur.nl/UK/contact/route/

In recent years there has been an explosion of literature and debate around the work of Carl Schmitt (1888-1985). Schmitt’s work has become a central reference point within contemporary Continental political thought. Whilst Schmitt’s initial reception focused on the powerful critique of liberalism and the conception of sovereignty  he developed in his early Weimar writings today his impact is felt in a wide range of debates from the critique of post-911 security regimes and the humanitarian wars to theories of biopolitics and the rise of right-wing fringe parties in Europe. Despite this widespread engagement with his work Schmitt remains a controversial figure whose thought retains the capacity to provoke as much as it forces his readers to face fundamental political questions. What has largely gone unremarked upon in these debates however is the spatial elements of Schmitt’s work and particularly his geopolitical writings. This symposium aims to turn critical attention toward  the role of space in Schmitt’s thought by examining the spatial concepts he deploys across his thought, his geopolitical theories and the traditions of though they emerge from and have been received within. Understanding the spatial element of Schmitt’s thought is crucial to getting a clearer grasp on this key thinker of Twentieth Century political thought and assessing the uses, limitations and dangers of his thought today. 

14.00 “On Carl Schmitt and Space”

Claudio Minca, the Socio-Spatial Analysis Chair Group, Wageningen University  

14.10 “Carl Schmitt’s Cultural and Political Milieu”

Christian Abrahamsson, the Socio-Spatial Analysis Chair Group, Wageningen University 

14.20 A panel discussion on Carl Schmitt’s “Forms of modern imperialism in international law” and “Großraum versus universalism” – “Volkerrechtliche formen des modernen Imperialismus” (1932) and “Großraum gegen Universalismus” (1939), translated by Matthew Hannah and forthcoming in Stephen Legg (ed.) Spatiality, Sovereignty and Carl Schmitt: Geographies of the Nomos, Routledge.

The texts will be distributed to those who sign up for the symposium.

15.20-15.40  Coffee break

15.40 “What’s so Spatial about Carl Schmitt?: Ontology, Space, Order”

Rory Rowan, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London

Discussant: James Sidaway, Department of Geography, Amsterdam University   

16.20 “A Spectre Haunts Carl Schmitt: The Deterritorialisation of the Political”  

Matthias Lievens, Centre for Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Discussant: Katja de Vries, Law Science Technology & Society, the Free University of Brussels  

17.00-18.15  Open discussion                                                         

To sign up for the symposium contact Christian Abrahamsson, Christian.abrahamsson@wur.nl