Description
My talk approaches what has been called the ‘moment of theory’ (Hunter) that emerged in the late twentieth-century from the perspective of a possible sociology of truth. It does this with reference to the interventions on public health measures to control COVID-19 made by the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben. While it would be easy to join the chorus of those who have sought the ‘cancellation’ of Agamben, the lecture will use this example as a way to interrogate ‘theory’ as a truth practice or a ‘regime of veridiction’. It asks what is or was theory? What are its features as a particular way of truth-telling? Has its close relative, critique, run out of steam as Latour once asked? And why? What features does critical theory share with the less savoury conspiracy theory? Can we approach theory as a social practice that would confer a prestigious persona on its practitioners by forms of ascesis? Why is it and its truth-claims vulnerable to cancellation?| Period | 23 Mar 2023 |
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| Event title | The Westermarck Society's Annual Sociological Conference 2023: Knowledge and Doubt |
| Event type | Conference |
| Organiser | The Westermarck Society |
| Location | Tampere, FinlandShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |