Invitation to the Defense of Johannes Siegmund
The Institute for Art Theory and and Cultural Studies of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna indly invites you to the Defense of Johannes Siegmund's dissertation project Expulsion and Founding, on the politicial theory of flight and escape.
The Defense Committee is made up of: PD Dr. habil. Jens Kastner (chair), Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ruth Sonderegger (1st supervisor), and assoc. Prof. Andreas Oberprantacher (2nd appraiser).
Fleeing to Europe is a political action. Fleeing does not only mean forced displacement. It is also an act of escaping and founding. Therefore, refugee movements can be understood as political movements. The text is divided into three parts. In the first part, the expulsions of the nation states are presented with Hannah Arendt's concept of the refugee of the interwar period. Until today, the figure of the refugee is linked to the expulsion of minorities and their incarceration in camps. The second part broadens this narrow perspective on flight by looking at the expulsions of capitalism. Starting with theories of ongoing primitive accumulation, the story of capitalism is sketched as a history of expropriation and forced displacement. In the last part, I develop a concept of politics of flight combining theories of radical democracy and theories of exodus. Politics of flight make visible the politics of both the public protests of refugees and the invisible daily practices of flight. Politics of flight are precarious, rich in shapes, transnational and solidaric. Politics of flight are struggles for survival, but at the same time, they are also the founding of new lives, communities, societies and even states.
Johannes Siegmund is a political theorist. He teaches at the University of Vienna and works as a trainer for political education. He is co-editor of the journal engagée and member of the collective philosophy unbound . In Februar, his essay "Wir Zukunftslosen" will be published by Konturen . He has a two-year-old child.
Please join us for the defense presentation. The event will take place at room M20.
We are very much looking forward to welcoming you all.