On the 25th of June at 5:15pm in the Westmere Hub we will be exploring Catherine Malabou’s ‘The Brain of History or the Mentality of the Anthropocene‘. In this essay Malabou asks “How is it possible to account for the double dimension of the “anthropos” of the Anthropocene? At once both a responsible, historical subject, and a neutral, non-conscious and non-reflexive force?” Malabou explores how the “anthropos” has been considered both a geological force (Chakrabarty) and an addicted brain (Smail). In this gripping essay Malabou argues how the mental is located between the neural and the inorganic, which should have plenty of resonance with last week’s exploration of Eugene Thacker’s In the Dust of This Planet.
We warmly invite all interested postgraduate taught and research students to attend the group session, and would love to hear what you make of Malabou’s text! Please arrive at Westmere as promptly as possible, so that we can start the reading group at 5:15pm.
For reading, and to be added to our mailing list, please contact Ben Horn at bxh873@student.bham.ac.uk
You can also access a PDF of this weeks essay here.
Please also keep an eye on this page for an updated schedule of readings to commence from week 7 (16th of July) to week 9 (30th of July)!
We look forward to seeing you all!
Arzu, Ben and Niall