12.30 p.m. (PT) | UCLA, Bunche Hall 4357 | Attendance free with registration

Join UCLA’s Department of Political Science, the International Institute, and the Thomas Mann House for a lecture by 2024 Thomas Mann Fellow and Philosopher Rahel Jaeggi! During her time in Los Angeles, Jaeggi is exploring the importance of solidarity for democratic societies.

Solidarity, in a preliminary understanding, means “standing in for each other,” based on a symmetrical, reciprocal, and cooperative relation, mediated through a common cause. Yet, if we work with this definition, three paradoxes (or at least tensions) arise. (1) If we take solidarity to be symmetrical: How can we account for obvious asymmetries in situations where solidarity is needed? (2) Solidarity seems to be bound to a particular situation and group, but then how do we come to grips with its universalistic claims? (3) Solidarity seems to be “given” and “made” at the same time. Rahel Jaeggi’s lecture will address these paradoxes, arguing for an enlarged understanding of symmetry, a bottom-up conception of universality, and a concept of solidaristic practice that allows to understand how solidarities are based on shared experiences but realized through solidaristic action.

Attendance

Attendance open to the public
Please register here

Participant

Rahel Jaeggi has been a Professor of Philosophy with a focus on Political Philosophy at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin since 2009 and director of the university’s Centre for Social Critique since 2018. Rahel Jaeggi has researched and taught as a visiting professor at Yale University, Fudan University, and as Theodor Heuss Professor at The New School for Social Research. Jaeggi was also a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. She is a prominent representative of critical theory, has received numerous awards, and is the author and co-editor of numerous books, most recently Fortschritt und Regression ("Progress and Regression“), the English translation is forthcoming in the fall of 2024. Rahel Jaeggi is a 2024 Thomas Mann House Fellow in Los Angeles.

This event is presented by UCLA's International Institute and the Department of Political Science, in cooperation with the Thomas Mann House