The Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies organises a faculty lecture four times a year, which transcends the boundaries of the disciplines within the department. The lectures are open to both students and staff and are free to attend.
About this edition
In the series of lectures for lecturers, Guilel Treiber and Martijn de Koning will discuss the intertwining of academic research and activism. The lecture consists of two shorter talks.
The Anti-Strategic Intellectual: Foucault and the Figure of the Public Intellectual
In From Revolution to Ethics, Julian Bourg traces the shift in French intellectual life from the hyper-politicisation and activism of the 1960s to a “turn to ethics” and a distancing from revolutionary politics, just ten years later. Guilel Treiber will explore Foucault’s evolving thinking on his own political activism, tracing the trajectory from his 1972 interview with Deleuze, “Intellectuals and Power”, to his 1979 essay “Useless to Revolt?” and beyond.
Religious Studies and/in Public: On Critique, Activism, and the Politics of Scholarship
What does it mean to practise religious studies in the public sphere at a time when debates on religion (particularly Islam), Palestine, security and belonging have become deeply polarised? In this lecture, Martijn de Koning will discuss these intersections through: 1. his role as an expert witness in terrorism trials involving his interlocutors; 2. his collaboration with anti-Islamophobia initiatives; 3. his lectures at the Nijmegen student encampments for Palestine.
About the speakers
Martijn de Koning is an anthropologist and associate professor at the Department of Islam, Politics and Society. He has written extensively on Muslim religiosities, Salafism, citizenship, islamophobia and racialization, securitization, and Muslim forms of activism in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
Guilel Treiber is an assistant professor of ethics and political philosophy. He is a specialist of 19th and 20th century French political thought and history. Guilel is currently working on relating insights of late-19th century French crowd psychologists such as Tarde and Le Bon to the contemporary polarization plaguing our contemporary digital condition.
NB. This lecture will be held in English
