Corso di Perfezionamento in Teoria Critica
University of Florence
Today “critical theory” refers to the Frankfurt School but is not reducible to it. More generally, critical theory is a broader field in which different approaches converge to analyze contemporary capitalist society and call into question power and truth, and the conditions of their production and reproduction. In other words, critique is the condition of possibility for understanding our times. While focusing on its object, society, critique also constantly interrogates its own status as science. Since, Kant, any science that aspires to be “critical” has unavoidably considered the possibilities and the limitations of its own exercise. This is all the more true today, when the discourse of critique proliferates, at times undermining its own strength.
Our program in critical theory does not take any meaning of “critique” for granted. We neither apply any specific model nor limits ourselves to questioning a single paradigm. Considering the wide range of meanings that the term “critique” carries today and the different fields in which it is applied, the program includes lectures and conferences on a wide range of themes, with a multi-disciplinary approach. Moreover, in light of the self-reflexive nature of critique, the program provides tools for an epistemological practice that interrogates its own status. The curriculum covers the reading of a classic of critical thinking (Guy Debord’s Society of Spectacle), and the various modules deal with a range of themes, including: the Frankfurt School and the future of critique; social theories and critical theories of contemporary capitalism; theories of history; queer studies; Marx and the critique of political economy; precarious employment conditions; colonialism and migration; time and the commodity; religions and beliefs; art and society; the critique of urbanism; and literary criticism.
Contact Information
Gabriella Paolucci, Associate professor
Via delle Pandette, 32
Firenze, Italy
Italy http://www.teoriacritica.unifi.it/index.php
teoriacritica@unifi.it
+39 055 2759076
Region
Balkans and Southern Europe
Europe
Academic Program
Certificate (includes emphasis, specialization, or concentration)
Year Established
2018-2019