Gabriel Rockhill
Gabriel Rockhill (born 1972) is a French-American philosopher, cultural critic, writer and public intellectual. He is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University,[1] Founder and Executive Director of the Critical Theory Workshop/Atelier de Théorie Critique at the Sorbonne/EHESS, and former Directeur de programme at the Collège International de Philosophie.[2] He also co-directs the seminar "Socio-philosophie du temps présent. Enjeux épistémologiques, méthodologiques et critiques" at the EHESS in Paris.
Gabriel Rockhill | |
---|---|
Born | 1972 |
Alma mater | Grinnell College School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences Paris 8 University Emory University |
Occupation | Philosopher |
Employer | Villanova University |
Best known for his work developing a new paradigm for thinking the historical relationship between aesthetics and politics, his research spans the fields of art, literature, history, technology and politics. He is also a regular contributor to public intellectual debate, and his writings have circulated widely in venues such and the New York Times, Libération and the Los Angeles Review of Books.
Early life
Gabriel Rockhill graduated from Grinnell College in 1995.[3] He earned a master's degree under the direction of Jacques Derrida and Luce Irigaray from the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, and a Ph.D. under the direction of Alain Badiou from Paris 8 University, as well as a Ph.D. from Emory University.[3]
Work
Rockhill has advanced a new model for thinking the historical relationship between art and politics. Rather than understanding them as two spheres separated by an insurmountable divide or linked by a privileged bridge, he demonstrates through a "materialist deconstruction" that they are not fixed entities with a singular relation, but rather socio-historical practices and "concepts in struggle" with shifting borders. In books like Radical History & the Politics of Art (Columbia University Press, 2014) and Interventions in Contemporary Thought: History, Politics, Aesthetics (Edinburgh University Press, 2016), he proposes a significant departure from extant philosophical debates on what is commonly called "art" and "politics" in the name of a radically historicist analysis of the "social politicity" inherent in the modes of production, circulation and reception of aesthetic practices. Engaging with a diverse array of intellectual, artistic, and political traditions, his work carefully maps interactions between different dimensions of aesthetic and political practices as they intertwine and sometimes merge in specific fields of struggle.
In his earlier work, Logique de l'histoire: pour une analytique des pratiques philosophiques (Éditions Hermann, 2010), he developed an alternative logic of history and historical change, which emphasizes the geographic and social dimensions of history, as well as a novel account of social practices and a multidimensional theory of agency. His most recent book, Contre-histoire du temps présent: interrogations intempestives sur la mondialisation, la technologie, la démocratie (CNRS Éditions, 2017; published in English as Counter-History of the Present: Untimely Interrogations into Globalization, Technology, Democracy, Duke University Press, 2017) expands this work to a critical analysis of the dominant image of the present moment, thereby dismantling what he refers to as the "historical and political imaginary of the contemporary conjuncture."
In addition to his scholarly publications, Rockhill has written a number of literary pieces and essays that have circulated widely and been translated into multiple languages, including his widely discussed articles "Why We Never Die" in the New York Times and "The CIA Reads French Theory" in the L.A. Review of Books.
Bibliography
Books
- La CIA et les intellectuels: Une histoire souterraine des idées. De l'école de Francfort aux "nouveaux philosophes" (La fabrique éditions, 2019).
- Contre-histoire du temps présent: interrogations intempestives sur la mondialisation, la technologie, la démocratie (CNRS Éditions, 2017), published in English as Counter-History of the Present: Untimely Interrogations into Globalization, Technology, Democracy (Duke University Press, 2017).
- Interventions in Contemporary Thought: History, Politics, Aesthetics (Edinburgh University Press, 2016).
- Radical History & the Politics of Art (New York: Columbia University Press, Series "New Directions in Critical Theory," 2014), 288 pp. ISBN 978-0-231-15201-3. (pb.)[4]
- Logique de l’histoire: Pour une analytique des pratiques philosophiques (Paris: Editions Hermann, series "Hermann Philosophie," 2010), 534 pp. ISBN 978-2-7056-6965-2. (pb.)[5]
Edited books
- With Alfredo Gomez-Muller, in collaboration with Seyla Benhabib, Nancy Fraser, Judith Butler, Immanuel Wallerstein, Cornel West, Will Kymlicka, Michael Sandel and Axel Honneth: Politics of Culture and the Spirit of Critique: Dialogues (New York: Columbia University Press, Series "New Directions in Critical Theory," 2011), 240 pp. ISBN 978-0-231-15187-0. (pb.)
- French edition (slightly different): Critique et subversion dans la pensée contemporaine américaine: Dialogues (Paris: Editions du Félin, 2010).
- Spanish edition (slightly different): La teoría crítica en Norteamérica: Política, ética y actualidad (Medellín: La Carreta Editores, 2008).
- With Pierre-Antoine Chardel: Technologies de contrôle dans la mondialisation: enjeux politiques, éthiques et esthétiques (Paris: Editions Kimé, 2009), 207 pp. ISBN 978-2-84174-499-2. (pb.)
- With Philip Watts: Jacques Rancière: History, Politics, Aesthetics (Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2009), 368 pp. ISBN 978-0-8223-4506-0. (pb.)
Edited translations
- With John V. Garner: Cornelius Castoriadis. Postscript on Insignificance: Dialogues with Cornelius Castoriadis (London: Continuum Books, 2011).
- Jacques Rancière. The Politics of Aesthetics (London: Continuum Books, 2004).
Select articles
- “Whitman’s Polyvocal Poetic Revolution: Equality and Empire in New World Literature.” American Literature as World Literature. Ed. J. R. Di Leo. London: Bloomsbury, 2017.
- “Comment penser le temps présent? De l’ontologie de l’actualité à l’ontologie sans l’être.” Rue Descartes75 (2012/3): 114-126.
- "Recent Developments in Aesthetics: Badiou, Rancière and Their Interlocutors." The History of Continental Philosophy. Ed. Alan Schrift. Vol. 8. Emerging Trends in Continental Philosophy. Ed. Todd May (Durham: Acumen Press, 2010), p. 31–48.
- "A Specter Is Haunting Globalization." Cognitive Architecture: From Bio-politics to Noo-politics. Eds. Deborah Hauptmann and Warren Neidich (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2010), p. 470–487.
- "La Démocratie dans l’histoire des cultures politiques." Jacques Rancière ou la politique à l'œuvre. Eds. Jérôme Game and Aliocha Lasowski (Paris: Editions Archives Contemporaines, Collection "Centre d'Etudes Poétiques," 2009).
- "Le Cinéma n’est jamais né." Le milieu des appareils. Ed. Jean-Louis Déotte (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2009), p. 187–211 (also available in the online journal Appareil 1 (2008).[6]
- "Démocratie moderne et révolution esthétique. Quelques réflexions sur la causalité historique." La philosophie déplacée: Autour de Jacques Rancière. Eds. Laurence Cornu and Patrice Vermeren. Actes du Colloque du Centre Culturel International de Cerisy-la-Salle (Paris: Horlieu Editions, 2006), p. 335–349.
- "Modernism as a Misnomer: Godard’s Archeology of the Image." Journal of French and Francophone Philosophy, Vol. XVIII, No. 2 (2010): 107–129.
- "Le Débat sur le temps présent. Analyse des coordonnées conceptuelles de la controverse postmoderne." Symposium 12:1 (Spring 2008): 126–145.
- "Le Droit de la philosophie et les faits de l’histoire: Foucault, Derrida, Descartes." Le Portique. E-portique 5 – Recherches (December 2007).[7]
- "L’Ecriture de l’histoire philosophique: L’Eternel retour du même et de l’autre chez Lévinas." Philosophie 87 (fall 2005): 59–77.
- "The Silent Revolution." SubStance: A Review of Theory and Literary Criticism (special issue on Jacques Rancière) 103, 33:1 (2004): 54–76.
Select opinion pieces
- "The CIA Reads French Theory: On the Intellectual Labor of Dismantling the Cultural Left." Los Angeles Review of Books, "The Philosophical Salon" (February 27, 2017).
- "Unraveling Love Stories." The New York Times, "The Stone" (February 13, 2017).
- "Vive l’anti-colonialisme américain !" Mediapart (December 3, 2016).
- "Why We Never Die." The New York Times, "The Stone" (August 29, 2016).
- "Is Censorship Proof of Art’s Political Power?" Los Angeles Review of Books, "The Philosophical Salon" (June 6, 2016). Forthcoming in Michael Marder and Patricia Vieira, eds., The Philosophical Salon: Speculations, Reflections, Interventions (Open Humanities Press).
- "La France au carrefour du Diable. Ne suivons pas la voie impitoyable des Etats-Unis dans la guerre sans fin." Mediapart (November 21, 2015).
- "L’Amérique en noir et blanc." Libération (June 28, 2015).
References
- "Gabriel Rockhill - Gabriel Rockhill". Bloomsbury. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
- "CIPh Paris". Ciph.org. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
- "Gabriel Rockhill, Ph.D." Villanova University. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
- "Radical History and the Politics of Art". Archived from the original on 2014-04-27. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
- "Trouver un livre - Hermann Éditeurs". Editions-hermann.fr. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
- "Revue Appareil". Revues.mshparisnord.org. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
- "Le Droit de la philosophie et les faits de l'histoire". Leportique.revues.org. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Gabriel Rockhill |
- Website
- Academic Profile at Villanova University
- "The CIA Reads French Theory"
- Research Project at Collège International de Philosophie
- Critical Theory Workshop / Atelier de Théorie Critique
- Works by or about Gabriel Rockhill in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Announcement for Keynote Lecture at NYU
- Lecture on Art and Politics