Book by Elisabeth Paquette
University of Minnesota Press, 2020
https://manifold.umn.edu/projects/universal-emancipation
https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-divis... more https://manifold.umn.edu/projects/universal-emancipation
https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/universal-emancipation
Is inattention to questions of race more than just incidental to Alain Badiou’s philosophical system? Universal Emancipation reveals a crucial weakness in the approach to (in)difference in political life of this increasingly influential French thinker. Elisabeth Paquette’s powerful critical analysis demonstrates that Badiou’s theory of emancipation fails to account for racial and racialized subjects, thus attenuating its utility in thinking about freedom and justice.
Journal Articles by Elisabeth Paquette
American Association of Philosophy Teachers Studies in Pedagogy, 2024
In this paper, I outline various pedagogical practices that I believe are important for diversify... more In this paper, I outline various pedagogical practices that I believe are important for diversifying the field of philosophy. I outline these practices through a discussion of knowledge and its production, the production of relations through collective acts, the creation of space in and beyond the institution, and finally moving beyond inclusion narratives. The various pedagogical practices that I outline have been developed in, and drawn from, a workshop titled the Feminist Decolonial Politics Workshop. Ultimately, in this paper I utilize what I call a “tenderness approach to philosophy”—tenderness as devotion of time and concentration, as directional, relational, and embodied—in order to demonstrate how tenderness can be applied to a pedagogical context.
The CLR James Journal, 2023
The focus of this essay is Sylvia Wynter’s conception of ceremony. I argue that ceremonies provid... more The focus of this essay is Sylvia Wynter’s conception of ceremony. I argue that ceremonies provide the conditions for a new conception of what it means to be human, that is no longer hierarchical. As such, both ceremonies and this new human are necessary for processes of liberation. In order to be liberatory, however, ceremonies must be place-based and yet fluid and mobile, are steeped in history and are thrust into the future, depend upon community, and impact daily experiences. I argue that employing the best aspects of ceremony can provide the tools for developing coalitional movements, which are often already employed by Black and Indigenous communities. I call this process ceremonies of liberation.
NaKaN: A Journal of Cultural Studies , 2022
https://nakanjournal.com/unsettling-public-spaces/
philoSOPHIA: A Journal of Continental Feminism , 2021
Sara Ahmed’s Living a Feminist Life draws explicitly from the writings of French second-wave femi... more Sara Ahmed’s Living a Feminist Life draws explicitly from the writings of French second-wave feminist Monique Wittig (1935–2003). Given that Wittig’s work has fallen into obscurity in recent years, and that a number of critiques have responded to her theorization of the notion of “the lesbian,” this essay seeks to understand what Wittig has to offer to twenty-first-century intersectional feminist theory, like that of Ahmed. In this essay, I thus offer analysis and critique of Wittig’s discussion or race and slavery found specifically in her philosophical writings. While emphasizing the significance of Wittig’s failure to be inclusive of women of color in these philosophical works, I propose that within Wittig’s literary writings there are potential tools and concepts—specifically multiplicity, interruption, and mutability—that can be fruitful for trans-inclusive and women of color feminist theorizing.
Philosophy Compass, 2020
The goal of this study is to provide an account of the relation between feminist theory and the w... more The goal of this study is to provide an account of the relation between feminist theory and the writings of decolonial theorist Sylvia Wynter. I offer a twofold approach to this account. On the one hand, I outline a series of texts that have addressed Wynter's critique of feminist theory. These authors note how Wynter problematizes a universal conception of woman that marginalizes women of color. On the other hand, I have provided an account of various authors who have turned to Wynter for the purpose of developing a feminist project. I make evident why it is the case that these two approaches are not contradictory or paradoxical in Wynter's work, but rather provide the foundation for a theory of liberation that is relevant to a variety of socio, geopolitical, and temporal locations.
Radical Philosophy Review, 2021
In Autopoiesis and Cognition (1980), Humberto R. Maturana and Franscico J. Varela state that “the... more In Autopoiesis and Cognition (1980), Humberto R. Maturana and Franscico J. Varela state that “the way an autopoietic system maintains its identity depends on its particular way of being autopoietic, that is, on its particular structure, different classes of autopoietic systems have different classes of ontogenies” (98). With this in mind, in this article I develop how this conception of autopoietic systems is both present in, and operates through, Wynter’s employment of space and place, poetry, and wonder.
Hypatia, 2020
The aim of this article is to interrogate the concept of cultural genocide. The primary context e... more The aim of this article is to interrogate the concept of cultural genocide. The primary context examined is the Government of Canada's recent attempt at reconciliation through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Drawing on the work of Audra Simpson (Mohawk), Glen Sean Coulthard (Yellowknives Dene), Kyle Powys Whyte (Potawatomi), Stephanie Lumsden (Hupa), and Luana Ross (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, located at Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana), I argue that cultural genocide, like cultural rights, is depoliticized, thus limiting the political impact these concepts can invoke. Following Sylvia Wynter, I also argue that the aims of “truth and reconciliation” can sometimes serve to resituate the power of a liberal multicultural settler state, rather than seek systemic changes that would properly address the present-day implications of the residential school system. Finally, I argue that genocide and culture need to be repoliticized in order to support Indigenous futurity and sovereignty.
Badiou Studies, 2015
The goal of this paper is to bring into conversation two contemporary and prominent theorists of ... more The goal of this paper is to bring into conversation two contemporary and prominent theorists of psychoanalysis: Julia Kristeva and Alain Badiou. As of yet, there has been very little engagement between these two theorists. However, I contend that there is a rich theoretical discussion to be had where their theories overlap. The interest of this project is political; I engage in a preliminary interrogation of Badiou’s work from a feminist perspective. Specifically, I bring Kristeva’s construction of the semiotic, and the correlating discussion of the maternal body, into conversation with Badiou’s concept of the feminine as generic. Through this investigation, I demonstrate the similar ways in which the feminine and the maternal body both operate and are situated. Their conceptions of the feminine and the maternal body, I argue, push at the limits of identity and implement innovative articulations of difference which resemble each other. I briefly draw out the manner in which these conceptions of difference overlap but, in particular, I address the conceptions of subjectivity that become possible as a result.
Keywords
Alain Badiou; Julia Kristeva; Subject; Maternal Body; Semiotic; Symbolic; Feminine Signifier; Lacan; Love; Difference; Identity
Book Chapter by Elisabeth Paquette
Struggles of Liberation in Abya Yala, 2024
Springer Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory, 2016
Translation by Elisabeth Paquette
Viewpoint Magazine, 2015
This article was written by Simona de Simoni , a PhD candidate in Philosophy at Università degli ... more This article was written by Simona de Simoni , a PhD candidate in Philosophy at Università degli Studi di Torino and at Université Paris Ouest. Member of the research laboratory “Sophiapol” (Université Paris Ouest), her work focuses on the relationship between space, politics, and capitalist development with particular attention to the work of Henri Lefebvre and his possible theoretical interaction with Marxist-feminist radical theory and Italian “operaismo,” as well as his influence on contemporary critical geography. Active in feminist and queer movements, she is also a member of a team that promotes political and critical education for high school students in Northern Italy. I have translated it from French, and it was published in Viewpoint Magazine.
Interviews by Elisabeth Paquette
Below the Radar, 2022
https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/156-elisa... more https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/156-elisabeth-paquette.html
Continental philosopher and assistant professor of Philosophy and Women Gender Studies at the University of North Carolina, Elisabeth Paquette, joins Am Johal to speak about her latest book, Universal Emancipation: Race Beyond Badiou.
Elisabeth speaks about some of her transformative moments as a continental philosopher, including an essential question posed to her by Paget Henry, and her experience joining the Black Lives Matter Charlotte Protests in 2016. Her and Am also speak about the important questions surrounding ideas of justice, how justice can be emancipatory, and the ways that states fail in enacting justice — due to its deep foundations upon race and culture.
Elisabeth spends time critiquing Badiou’s class-first philosophies that undermines possibilities for universality in the sense of race, and then discusses the histories of Marxism centering on whiteness and Eurocentric attitudes. She also speaks about the importance of positive conceptions of race, and draws from Sylvia Wynter to determine that true universal emancipation needs to be filled with the varied and particular knowledges of racialized folks.
https://unconventionaldyad.wixsite.com/welcome/podcast/episode/25543180/33-dr-elisabeth-paquette-... more https://unconventionaldyad.wixsite.com/welcome/podcast/episode/25543180/33-dr-elisabeth-paquette-engaging-with-decolonial-texts
Today, Carli speaks with Dr. Elisabeth Paquette (she/her) who is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Women's and Gender Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She works at the intersection of social and political philosophy, feminist philosophy, and decolonial theory. Her book, titled Universal Emancipation: Race beyond Badiou (University of Minnesota Press, 2020), engages French political theorist Alain Badiou’s discussion of Négritude and the Haitian Revolution to develop a nuanced critique of his theory of emancipation. Currently, she is working on a monograph on the writings of decolonial theorist Sylvia Wynter. Her publications can be found in the following journals: Badiou Studies; Philosophy Today; Radical Philosophy Review; Hypatia; philoSOPHIA; and Philosophy Compass.
Topics of discussion include engaging with decolonial texts, Dr. Paquette's Feminist Decolonial Workshop, and her book Universal Emancipation: Race beyond Badiou. We also discuss her upcoming book on Sylvia Wynter, which she is in the process of writing.
New Books Network, 2020
https://newbooksnetwork.com/elisabeth-paquette-universal-emancipation-race-beyond-badiou-u-minnes... more https://newbooksnetwork.com/elisabeth-paquette-universal-emancipation-race-beyond-badiou-u-minnesota-press-2020/
What is Badiou’s theory of emancipation? For whom is this emancipation possible? Does emancipation entail an indifference to difference? In Universal Emancipation: Race Beyond Badiou (University of Minnesota Press, 2020) (Minnesota University Press, 2020), Elisabeth Paquette pursues these questions through a sustained conversation with decolonial theory, particularly the work of Sylvia Wynter. Through consideration of Négritude and the Haitian Revolution, Paquette argues for a theory of emancipation that need not subtract particularities, as Badiou theorizes, but rather build a pluri-conceptual framework, as Wynter theorizes, for emancipation based on solidarity.
Book Reviews by Elisabeth Paquette
Radical Philosophy Review , 2017
The European Legacy , 2016
Uploads
Book by Elisabeth Paquette
https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/universal-emancipation
Is inattention to questions of race more than just incidental to Alain Badiou’s philosophical system? Universal Emancipation reveals a crucial weakness in the approach to (in)difference in political life of this increasingly influential French thinker. Elisabeth Paquette’s powerful critical analysis demonstrates that Badiou’s theory of emancipation fails to account for racial and racialized subjects, thus attenuating its utility in thinking about freedom and justice.
Journal Articles by Elisabeth Paquette
Keywords
Alain Badiou; Julia Kristeva; Subject; Maternal Body; Semiotic; Symbolic; Feminine Signifier; Lacan; Love; Difference; Identity
Book Chapter by Elisabeth Paquette
Translation by Elisabeth Paquette
Interviews by Elisabeth Paquette
Continental philosopher and assistant professor of Philosophy and Women Gender Studies at the University of North Carolina, Elisabeth Paquette, joins Am Johal to speak about her latest book, Universal Emancipation: Race Beyond Badiou.
Elisabeth speaks about some of her transformative moments as a continental philosopher, including an essential question posed to her by Paget Henry, and her experience joining the Black Lives Matter Charlotte Protests in 2016. Her and Am also speak about the important questions surrounding ideas of justice, how justice can be emancipatory, and the ways that states fail in enacting justice — due to its deep foundations upon race and culture.
Elisabeth spends time critiquing Badiou’s class-first philosophies that undermines possibilities for universality in the sense of race, and then discusses the histories of Marxism centering on whiteness and Eurocentric attitudes. She also speaks about the importance of positive conceptions of race, and draws from Sylvia Wynter to determine that true universal emancipation needs to be filled with the varied and particular knowledges of racialized folks.
Today, Carli speaks with Dr. Elisabeth Paquette (she/her) who is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Women's and Gender Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She works at the intersection of social and political philosophy, feminist philosophy, and decolonial theory. Her book, titled Universal Emancipation: Race beyond Badiou (University of Minnesota Press, 2020), engages French political theorist Alain Badiou’s discussion of Négritude and the Haitian Revolution to develop a nuanced critique of his theory of emancipation. Currently, she is working on a monograph on the writings of decolonial theorist Sylvia Wynter. Her publications can be found in the following journals: Badiou Studies; Philosophy Today; Radical Philosophy Review; Hypatia; philoSOPHIA; and Philosophy Compass.
Topics of discussion include engaging with decolonial texts, Dr. Paquette's Feminist Decolonial Workshop, and her book Universal Emancipation: Race beyond Badiou. We also discuss her upcoming book on Sylvia Wynter, which she is in the process of writing.
What is Badiou’s theory of emancipation? For whom is this emancipation possible? Does emancipation entail an indifference to difference? In Universal Emancipation: Race Beyond Badiou (University of Minnesota Press, 2020) (Minnesota University Press, 2020), Elisabeth Paquette pursues these questions through a sustained conversation with decolonial theory, particularly the work of Sylvia Wynter. Through consideration of Négritude and the Haitian Revolution, Paquette argues for a theory of emancipation that need not subtract particularities, as Badiou theorizes, but rather build a pluri-conceptual framework, as Wynter theorizes, for emancipation based on solidarity.
Book Reviews by Elisabeth Paquette
https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/universal-emancipation
Is inattention to questions of race more than just incidental to Alain Badiou’s philosophical system? Universal Emancipation reveals a crucial weakness in the approach to (in)difference in political life of this increasingly influential French thinker. Elisabeth Paquette’s powerful critical analysis demonstrates that Badiou’s theory of emancipation fails to account for racial and racialized subjects, thus attenuating its utility in thinking about freedom and justice.
Keywords
Alain Badiou; Julia Kristeva; Subject; Maternal Body; Semiotic; Symbolic; Feminine Signifier; Lacan; Love; Difference; Identity
Continental philosopher and assistant professor of Philosophy and Women Gender Studies at the University of North Carolina, Elisabeth Paquette, joins Am Johal to speak about her latest book, Universal Emancipation: Race Beyond Badiou.
Elisabeth speaks about some of her transformative moments as a continental philosopher, including an essential question posed to her by Paget Henry, and her experience joining the Black Lives Matter Charlotte Protests in 2016. Her and Am also speak about the important questions surrounding ideas of justice, how justice can be emancipatory, and the ways that states fail in enacting justice — due to its deep foundations upon race and culture.
Elisabeth spends time critiquing Badiou’s class-first philosophies that undermines possibilities for universality in the sense of race, and then discusses the histories of Marxism centering on whiteness and Eurocentric attitudes. She also speaks about the importance of positive conceptions of race, and draws from Sylvia Wynter to determine that true universal emancipation needs to be filled with the varied and particular knowledges of racialized folks.
Today, Carli speaks with Dr. Elisabeth Paquette (she/her) who is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Women's and Gender Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She works at the intersection of social and political philosophy, feminist philosophy, and decolonial theory. Her book, titled Universal Emancipation: Race beyond Badiou (University of Minnesota Press, 2020), engages French political theorist Alain Badiou’s discussion of Négritude and the Haitian Revolution to develop a nuanced critique of his theory of emancipation. Currently, she is working on a monograph on the writings of decolonial theorist Sylvia Wynter. Her publications can be found in the following journals: Badiou Studies; Philosophy Today; Radical Philosophy Review; Hypatia; philoSOPHIA; and Philosophy Compass.
Topics of discussion include engaging with decolonial texts, Dr. Paquette's Feminist Decolonial Workshop, and her book Universal Emancipation: Race beyond Badiou. We also discuss her upcoming book on Sylvia Wynter, which she is in the process of writing.
What is Badiou’s theory of emancipation? For whom is this emancipation possible? Does emancipation entail an indifference to difference? In Universal Emancipation: Race Beyond Badiou (University of Minnesota Press, 2020) (Minnesota University Press, 2020), Elisabeth Paquette pursues these questions through a sustained conversation with decolonial theory, particularly the work of Sylvia Wynter. Through consideration of Négritude and the Haitian Revolution, Paquette argues for a theory of emancipation that need not subtract particularities, as Badiou theorizes, but rather build a pluri-conceptual framework, as Wynter theorizes, for emancipation based on solidarity.
Philosophy and the Event ALAIN BADIOU with FABIEN TARBY Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013. vii + 154 pp. $13.23 (paper)
ELISABETH PAQUETTE
Please submit your application through this online form.
You will be asked to upload your CV and a statement of interest.
Limited funds are available for travel support. We ask that you first seek out funds through your home institution. If none are available, and you are in need of travel support (accommodation and transportation), you will be asked to upload a statement of need. These funds are only available for in-person participants, and are limited.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Elisabeth Paquette at epaquet1@uncc.edu.
Many thanks for your interest in this workshop!
https://decolonialthoughtworkshop.wordpress.com/
The Feminist Decolonial Politics Workshop seeks to create a space for junior scholars and graduate students to engage in rigorous discussions of seldom-read figures in feminist decolonial theory. This 4-day intensive workshop provides an opportunity to enrich participant’s research and pedagogy through sustained engagement with the work of a given author. In the past, we have read the works of Audra Simpson, Saidiya Hartman, Sara Ahmed, Trinh T. Minh-ha, and Sylvia Wynter.
The focus of the 2020 Feminist Decolonial Politics Workshop is Dr. Christina Sharpe! The workshop is scheduled to take place Wednesday, May 20th to Saturday, May 23rd 2020 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Applications are due February 17th, 2020, and should include (a) a CV, and (b) a statement of interest. Travel funding is available on a first come, first serve basis. To be considered for a travel grant, in addition to the materials above, submit (a) a statement of need, and (b) a travel budget. Late applications will not be considered for the travel grant.
For consideration in the collection, please submit abstracts (500 words) along with author bios (100-150 words) by September 15th 2020. Abstracts for consideration should be sent to Elisabeth Paquette at epaquet1@uncc.edu. Please include “Abstract for Badiou Edited Collection” in the subject line. Abstracts will be reviewed, and tentative acceptance emails will be sent by September 2020. Full length essays should be approximately 7000-10000 words in length, inclusive of endnotes. Full essays will be expected by September 1st, 2021.