Cold Case?: Postcolonial Philosophy in France

A Humanities Related Event

When postcolonial studies arose in the English-speaking world, India was the paradigm case. But what does postcolonial mean in the French-speaking world, whose primary case is Algeria? After the 2005 riots, the problems in the former French colonies look like a cold case, despite the recent birth of postcolonial studies in France. At first, this work was done by historians and sociologists. But what about the philosophical field, where subjectivation is an important as objectivity? Even if they accept the work of American or British thinkers, French philosophers are not actually interested in this kind of research. Dr. Boulbina contends that postcolonial reflection is about the way meaningful subjectivity is structured by history, languages and gender in postcolonial circumstances.


About the speaker

Seloua Luste Boublina

Seloua Luste Boulbina holds Ph.D.’s in Political Science and Philosophy from Universite de Paris. A specialist in Tocqueville, Mill, and Caribbean philosophy, she is Program Director at the College International de Philosophie in Paris. Her publications include “Singe De Kafka (Kafka’s Monkey)” and special issues of “Rue Descartes” on topics related to postcolonial studies and migration.


Cosponsored with:

CWRU Department of Philosophy, ACES+ Advance Distinguished Speaker Fund