Progressive Geographies

I’m not entirely sure how much or what kind of blogging to do over the coming weeks. This blog has been quieter over the past few weeks anyway, and with the current situation most of what I post seems increasingly irrelevant. At the moment, I don’t feel I have anything to add to the chorus of commentary about coronavirus itself, despite the connection to some themes of my previous work – Foucault’s work on medicine and public health, surveillance and so on; Canguilhem’s interest in biology and medicine; Shakespeare on contagion…

So, I’m torn. It’s having an effect on my own work, in a very minor way, with the cancellation of some talks and all forthcoming archival work. But I am still trying to do some writing, and had an update on the work I’ve recently done for The Early Foucault ready to post. I also have a couple of recordings of talks that I was planning on sharing. So, some degree of normal service, or inappropriate in the current situation? Comments welcome.

Update: I should have added that in 2014-15 I put together a reading list on the Ebola crisis. This was because of a personal connection to what was happening, and a sense that there wasn’t a comparable place providing links. I did give one short talk on Ebola, and it’s continued to be part of my Geopolitics Today teaching at Warwick.

http://www.worldwater.org/conflict/map/ – thanks to dmf for the link to this and the podcast in a previous post.

Interstitial – Podcast on space and consequences of our designs

Each episode features one author on a new book that offers critical ways of understanding the worlds we make. Transdisciplinary perspectives from across the arts, social sciences, and humanities every Tuesday. Produced by David Huber.

The Undercommons and Destituent Power, Indiana University, March 26-28, 2020 – full details here.

On March 26-28, 2020, Indiana University’s annual Critical Ethnic Studies symposium will bring into dialogue two fields of insurgent study: the undercommons and destituent power.

To explore social life that evades political constraints, such as citizenship, sovereignty, and governance, we turn to the groundbreaking work of Fred Moten, Stefano Harney and Giorgio Agamben.

This para-institutional forum grows up from the roots of the Black radical tradition and Italian autonomia, to collect and share what we’ve learned from the practices and forms of life that are already breaking free of politics.

Through fugitive movement, contemplation, Black study, inoperativity, resonances between the last decade’s revolts, and other grounded reimaginations, we find what it means to let go of inherited political orders and to extend beyond them, toward the indissolubly common life that can be located in destitution and in refuge.

On Geographies of Violence: Michael Watts interviewed by Stuart Elden

An interview I did with Michael Watts a few years ago has been reposted on the Society and Space magazine site. Many thanks to Natalie Oswin for making this available again.