History and Theory

In our fourth episode, we speak to Annette Vowinckel about her new seminar on Harry Potter. The seminar uses J. K. Rowling's books as a springboard into theories of the twentieth century, such as those of Hannah Arendt and Francis Fukuyama. We discuss their theories and how they relate to the history of the twentieth century, how useful Harry Potter is for analyses of the present, and of course, who our favourite witches and wizards are. Can you guess which house she's in? Further reading: Vowinckel, Annette: Grundwissen Philosophie. Hannah Arendt, Leipzig: Reclam 2006 und Stuttgart: Reclam 2015. Deets, Stephen: Wizarding in the Classroom: Teaching Harry Potter and Politics, in: PS: Political Science and Politics 42 (October 2009), pp. 741-744. For more information on History and Theory, head over to historyandtheoryproject.blogspot.com.

In this episode, Alex and James sit down with Rob and Diego to discuss Guy Debord's 'The Society of the Spectacle', Michigan: Black and Red, 1970. Expect debate on Debord's theories of time and history, about just exactly what the Spectacle is, and whether Debord's imagined communist society could function without commodities. Read the text in full, or follow while we discuss specific theses, here: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/debord/society.htm Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Internationale_situationniste_n%C2%BA1.jpg

In episode two of our History and Theory Podcast we discuss Maria Todorova's book 'Imagining the Balkans' and her concepts of Balkanism and Balkanisation with Prof. Dr. Hannes Grandits of the Humboldt Universität Berlin. The podcast which Prof. Dr. Hannes Grandits mentions at the end of this episode can be found here: https://www.mixcloud.com/thesoutheastpassagepodcast/ For more information on History and Theory and other bits and bobs, head over to historyandtheoryproject.blogspot.com.