Desacralizing Humanism and Democracy

Published
Archipelago Radio

01.06.2024 — Athens

The Archipelago feat. Stathis Gourgouris • Desacralizing Humanism and Democracy

HOST ON MONTHLY SHOW The Archipelago

WITH RESIDENT Yannis-Orestis Papadimitriou

WITH GUESTS Stathis Gourgouris

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Despite its various mutations and transformations, we are still living under the paradigm of Enlightenment thought. This paradigm is flexible, though, subject to constant negotiation.

In his latest book, Nothing Sacred, Stathis Gourgouris decided to move a level up from current affairs and rethink some of the fundamentals of political thought in a way that is informed by contemporary politics. In this process, he re-examines two concepts that have remained stable and unquestioned for quite some time, proposing a new humanism that does away both with the dominant liberal version of it and the various anti-humanisms that have emerged over time, as well as a democracy that embraces its radical, anarchic character.

In this episode, Stathis Gourgouris, Professor of Classics, English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University talks about this new viewpoint on the basics of political thought in modernity, the 15-year process that produced the book, as well as the current events at Columbia University, with the student uprising in solidarity with Palestine.

Tracklist