AlhelíAlvarado 1

ApproachestoPierreRosanvallonAlhelídeMaríaAlvarado-Díaz

CriticalTheoryandtheArts,SchoolofVisualArts

estampenonidentifié,BibliothèqueNationaledeFrance

AlhelíAlvarado 2

ApproachestoPierreRosanvallon:Description

Approaches to Pierre Rosanvallon will present and examine the work ofhistorianandpoliticaltheoristPierreRosanvallonaswellastheongoingrelevanceofhis lucidandpolemicalclaimsonthestateofdemocracy. Focusingonhis2011workLasociétédeségaux (Seuil,2011;SocietyofEquals,HarvardUniversityPress,2013),wewillexploretherecurrentdilemmasinthetheoryandpracticeofequalityfromthedaysoftheFrenchRevolutiontothe21stcentury.Theseminarwillbeginwith a genealogical exposition of Pierre Rosanvallon’s intellectual trajectory,connecting his early studies with political philosopher Claude Lefort and hismilitancyinpost1968Frenchsyndicalistmilieutothedevelopmentofhistheorieson democracy. The following sessions will dissect and problematize the centralarguments in Rosanvallon’s history of democracy. Students will have theopportunitytounderstandRosanvallon’sgreaterintellectualagendathroughcarefulreadingofselectedchaptersfromSocietyofEquals,aswellasthroughcloseanalysisofprimarysources,relevanttohiswork.Theseminarwillconcludewithstudents’submissionofashortcriticalresponsetooneoftheassignedreadings,attemptingto elucidate the importance of Rosanvallon’s reinterpretation of democracy forcivilians today in both Western and non-Western cultures, as well as theshortcomingsofhishistoricalandpolitico-theoreticalnarrative.ReadingProgramDecember1:Equality–Theoryvs.Practice*PierreRosanvallon,“TheInventionofEquality”,SocietyofEquals(HarvardUniversityPress,2013)December8:Democracy&theEgalitarianRevolution-UtopiaandConflict*AbbéSièyes,“WhatistheThirdEstate”*1789DeclarationoftheRightsofMan*PierreRosanvallon,“RevolutionaryDemocracy”,Democracy:PastandFuture(ColumbiaUniversityPress,2006)December15:ParadoxesofDemocraticLife:IsEqualityReal?*PierreRosanvallon,“TheGreatReversal”,SocietyofEquals*Tocqueville,“HowEqualitySuggeststotheAmericanstheIndefinitePerfectibilityofMan”;“HowDemocracyAffectstheRelationshipofMastersandServants”*PierreRosanvallon,“FromthePasttotheFutureofDemocracy”,Democracy:PastandFuture