Jakob-Fugger-Zentrum
Borders in the Age of Networks. Achille Mbembe in Augsburg
In the Summer Semester of 2018, one of the most important thinkers of postcolonialism, the South African-based historian and philosopher Achille Mbembe, was welcomed at the University of Augsburg. Achille Mbembe focussed his visiting professorship on the topic of "Borders in the Age of Networks". He spoke about the importance of borders in a world of networks and examined who has access to mobility in this world of networks and for which reasons others are excluded from it. He addressed the implications of the idea of a borderless world and highlighted the difficulties and potentials of decolonising knowledge. In a panel discussion with the cultural journalist Claudia Kramatschek, Achille Mbembe was interviewed about his works Sortir de la grande nuit (2010), Politiques de l'inimitiè (2016) and Critique of Black Reason (2017).
Achille Mbembe holds a research professorship in history and politics at the Witwatersrand Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER) at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is the author of numerous books dealing with historical and political issues as well as critical theory and aesthetics. His works have been translated into many languages. His published works in German are Kritik der schwarzen Vernunft (2014), Ausgang aus der langen Nacht (2016) and Politik der Feindschaft (2017). Mbembe is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has also received numerous awards, including the Geschwister-Scholl-Award in 2015 and the Ernst Bloch and Gerda Henkel Award in 2018.
"Borders in a World of Networks: Who Can Move, Who Can’t and Why?", Opening lecture of the International Visiting Professorship at the Jakob-Fugger-Zentrum "Borders in the Age of Networks. Achille Mbembe in Augsburg" on May 7th 2018 at the University of Augsburg
"The Idea of a Borderless World", Lecture given as part of the International Visiting Professorship at the Jakob-Fugger-Zentrum "Borders in the Age of Networks. Achille Mbembe in Augsburg" on May 9th 2018 in the Rococo Hall of the Swabian Government
"Achille Mbembe im Gespräch mit Claudia Kramatschek", panel discussion as part of the International Visiting Professorship at the Jakob-Fugger-Zentrum "Borders in the Age of Networks. Achille Mbembe in Augsburg" on May 16th 2018 at the municipal library of Augsburg
In addition to the lectures and the panel discussion, a workshop in English for master and doctoral students on the topic "Decolonizing Knowledge" took place on May 16th, 2018.