The Critical Perspectives on Democratic Anti-Colonialism project brings together faculty and students interested in exploring the theoretical foundations and political manifestations of radical democratic and anti-colonial traditions. It seeks to renew the critical tradition of The New School by incorporating scholarly debates, issues, and approaches that have not been adequately represented.
The project, co-directed by associate professor of sociology Carlos Forment and associate professor of politics Andreas Kalyvas, focuses on the struggles of peripheral peoples in countries of the core and the periphery to make sense of the changing meanings and practices of plebeian forms of dissent, resistance, and self-rule that have surfaced in the modern and contemporary world. Those involved with the project critically examine dominant socio-institutional structures, power relations, and regimes of knowledge and the way plebeian groups reformulate, subvert, and generate emancipatory and heterodox alternatives.
Three thematic areas guide the Critical Perspectives on Democratic Anti-Colonialism project: the history of concepts, contemporary debates, and critical methodologies. Events and courses build on these areas, and discussions combine theoretical and empirical readings to highlight the continuities and discontinuities that are part of the radical democratic and anti-colonial traditions. Discussions also examine recent "post-positivist" approaches to and alternative epistemologies of the human sciences that grant primacy and centrality to intersubjectivity, interpretation, and performativity.
The project hosts monthly workshops for affiliated faculty and graduate students, at which they can present and comment on works-in-progress. Together with several NSSR departments, the project co-hosts a lecture series featuring guest speakers and an annual distinguished lecture, followed by an intensive seminar.
Past events include:
To learn more about related graduate courses or for general information, contact criticalperspectives@newschool.edu.
The New School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
