Gauss Seminars in Criticism: Silvia Federici

The Humanities Council’s Fall 2023 Gauss Seminars in Criticism will be presented by Silvia Federici, Professor of Political Philosophy and International Studies, Emerita, Hofstra University.  Her visit, under the general title, “Rethinking, Remaking a Feminist Agenda,” will comprise a public lecture on Tuesday, October 24 and a seminar on Wednesday, October 25.

Professor Federici is a longtime activist, teacher, and writer. In 1972 she was among the founders of the International Feminist Collective, the organization that launched the Campaign for Wages For Housework in the US and abroad. She has also been active in the anti-globalization movement and the anti-death penalty movement. In the 1990s she was a member of the journal Radical Midnight Notes and in 1991, after a period of teaching in Nigeria, she helped found the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa, which for more than ten years documented the struggle of African students against the austerity programs imposed by the IMF and the World Bank.

Tuesday,  October 24 at 5:00 PM in Betts Auditorium

Public Lecture: “Feminism, Social Reproduction, and the Reconstruction of the Commons”

This lecture discusses the different ways in which feminist movements internationally are imagining and constructing a post-capitalist world built on the principle of the “commons.” It presents a feminist theory on the “commoning” of life while showing how, already, the principle of the “commons” and “commoning” is reshaping our conception of social reproduction, knowledge-building, and feminist organizing.

Wednesday, October 25 at 12:30 PM — Location TBA

Seminar: “The Body as a Site of Resistance”

Since the 1970s, in feminist theory and practice, the body has emerged as a key terrain of confrontation with institutional policies and transformative practices. This seminar will discuss the significance of the feminist politicization of the body, the struggles it has inspired, and how “body politics” helps us in re-imagining and enriching the perspective of other social justice movements.

RSVP required for this lunch seminar, which is open only to members of the Princeton University community. To reserve a spot, please email both Brooke Holmes and Jeannine Matt Pitarresi . The location will be communicated to all registrants several days before the seminar.