A Lecture in the Humanities in Session Series at the Centre for Humanities Research

Professor Patrick Baert

Cambridge University

Intellectuals, Politics, Taboos

Date: Wednesday, 17 April 2019

Venue: Arts Faculty, Lecture Room 1, University of the Western Cape

Time: 13h00 – 14h30

For more information

Please RSVP Micaela Felix at centreforhumanitiesresearch@uwc.ac.za

Bio

Patrick Baert is Professor of Social Theory at the University of Cambridge. He has published mainly in the areas of social and political theory and the sociology of intellectuals. Amongst his publications are The Dark Side of Podemos? Carl Schmitt and Contemporary Progressive Populism (with J Booth, Routledge 2018); The Sociology of Intellectuals (with S Susen, Palgrave 2017); The Existentialist Moment; The Rise of Sartre as a Public Intellectual (Polity Press 2015); Conflict in the Academy; A Study in the Sociology of Intellectuals (with M Morgan, Palgrave 2015); Social Theory in the Twentieth Century and Beyond (with F Carreira da Silva, Polity Press 2010) and Philosophy of the Social Sciences: Towards Pragmatism (Polity Press 2005).

Abstract

In this talk, Patrick Baert will introduce his distinctive theoretical contribution to the study of intellectual history. Through various case studies, he will demonstrate the usefulness of positioning theory for analysing intellectual and political interventions. He will also elaborate on the role of taboos in the political realm.