Gauss Seminars in Criticism: Michael Hardt

The second Gauss Seminar in Criticism for Fall 2019 will be presented by Michael Hardt, Professor of Literature at Duke University. His visit, under the general title of “Globalization and Resistance,” will comprise a public lecture on Tuesday, October 15 and a seminar on Wednesday, October  16, which is open to members of the Princeton University community. (RSVPs only for the seminar will be accepted on October 1, 2019 and after, until full).

Public Lecture

Tuesday,  October 15, 5:00 PM – Betts Auditorium

Empire, 20 years on

Seminar

Wednesday, October 16, 12:00 PM

What is a movement?

The seminar is open to members of the Princeton University community. On or after October 1, RSVP to both Andrew Cole (acole@princeton.edu) and Jeannine Pitarresi (jp16@princeton.edu). Early responses are encouraged because the seminar fills up fast.

Biography

Michael Hardt is a political philosopher whose writings explore the new forms of domination in the contemporary world as well as the social movements and other forces of liberation that resist them. In the Empire trilogy—Empire (Harvard, 2000), Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire (Penguin, 2004), and Commonwealth (Harvard, 2009)—he and Antonio Negri investigate the political, legal, economic, and social aspects of globalization. They also study the political and economic alternatives that could lead to a more democratic world. Their pamphlet Declaration (self published, 2012) attempts to articulate the significance of the encampments and occupations that began in 2011, from Tahrir Square to Zuccotti Park, and to recognize the primary challenges faced by emerging democratic social movements today. Their most recent work, Assembly (Oxford, 2017), challenges the assumption that social movements must return to traditional, centralized forms of political leadership and advocates social unionism, or the mixing labor organizing with social movements.