About this Event
At Simon Fraser University, we live and work on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), Qayqayt, Kwantlen, Semiahmoo and Tsawwassen peoples.
Join SFU professor emeritus from the School of Communication, Andrew Feenberg, as he launches his new book on important radical philosopher Herbert Marcuse, .
The talk will be followed by a panel and reception.
This event is presented by SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement, with support from SFU’s School of Communications.
Why Marcuse now?
Marcuse was the most radical member of the Frankfurt School, so radical that he has become the bogeyman of the far right. His political theory was based on an original philosophy that has yet to be understood in its full scope and ambitions. This book traces Marcuse’s contribution from his early phenomenological Marxism to his late reflections on the environment. Marcuse not only supported struggles against imperialism and race and gender discrimination, he addressed the roots of the problems in the new phase of consumer capitalism. His most popular book, One-Dimensional Man, was read around the world and influenced the New Left. Already aware of the environmental crisis by the 1970s, he argued that nature is devastated by capitalist science and technology, and he demanded radical change in the human relation to nature. Today, under pressure from the public, science and technology increasingly conflict with the imperatives of capitalist enterprise. Marcuse offers theoretical resources for understanding this conflict. His thought can contribute to the contemporary movement to save the environment.
About Andrew Feenberg
Andrew Feenberg studied with Herbert Marcuse at the University of California, San Diego. He served as Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of Technology in the School of Communication, Simon Fraser University. He also served as Directeur de Programme at the Collège International de Philosophie in Paris. His books include Questioning Technology, Transforming Technology, Between Reason and Experience, The Philosophy of Praxis, and Technosystem: The Social Life of Reason. His most recent book is entitled The Ruthless Critique of Everything Existing: Nature and Revolution in Marcuse's Philosophy of Praxis.
Listen to Andrew on the podcast, as he speaks about critical theory, anti-authoritarianism, the philosophy of technology, and renowned German-American philosopher Herbert Marcuse of the Frankfurt School. Listen here.
For purposes of documentation this event may be photographed, audio recorded, and/or filmed. By attending this event, you consent to such recording media and its release, publication, exhibition or reproduction.
COVID-19 Safety:
Masks are encouraged on our campuses, particularly in spaces where people are in close proximity. Masks are not mandatory.
Further information on SFU's Return to Campus policy can be found here.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 149 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, Canada
CAD 0.00