Daniel James
I teach philosophy at the Humboldt-University of Berlin. My research focuses on classical German philosophy (especially Hegel), social philosophy (especially the philosophy of race), and the philosophy of social science. I am also interested in Africana and feminist philosophy, as well as in Marx and Marxism.
I’m currently engaged in two research projects:
In our collaborative project Hegel (anti)kolonial, Franz Knappik and I examine how racist and pro-colonialist elements of Hegel’s philosophy are connected with his metaphysics and other core elements of his philosophical system. Moreover, we explore the ambivalent legacy of Hegel’s philosophy, both in pro- and anti-colonial thought, and especially in the black intellectual tradition, as exemplified by W.E.B. Du Bois, Frantz Fanon, C.L.R. James, and Angela Davis. As part of the project, Franz and I also host an event series on Hegel and colonialism, racism, and anti-colonial thought. Some of our past events were in the news – you can read about them here (in German).
In our collaborative project Rasse: Negotiating a Fraught German Term, Leda Berio, Kurt Erbach, Benedict Kenyah-Damptey, Steffen Koch, Esther Seyffarth, Alex Wiegmann, and I use various empirical methods to investigate how talk and thought about ‘race’ and ‘Rasse’ differ in the United States and Germany. Moreover, we explore how these differences bear on the question of whether ‘Rasse’-talk should be conserved (including in a revised, social constructionist meaning) or eliminated (or, at least in some contexts, replaced with ‘racialization’ talk) in the German context.
Building on the findings of this project, I am currently also exploring how a conception of racism in terms of racialization (as opposed to race) can account for structural racism, as well as putative forms of racism that – like antisemitism, antislavism, and antiromanyism – are particularly relevant in the European context but hitherto underexplored in the philosophy of race.
Besides my scholarly work, I also co-organise the First-Gen Philosophers campaign (with Barbara Vetter in Germany, Simona Aimar in the UK and Marcello Oreste Fiocco in the US), which seeks to make first-gen students and academics in philosophy more visible and explore ways to improve their situation in academia.
I’m currently engaged in two research projects:
In our collaborative project Hegel (anti)kolonial, Franz Knappik and I examine how racist and pro-colonialist elements of Hegel’s philosophy are connected with his metaphysics and other core elements of his philosophical system. Moreover, we explore the ambivalent legacy of Hegel’s philosophy, both in pro- and anti-colonial thought, and especially in the black intellectual tradition, as exemplified by W.E.B. Du Bois, Frantz Fanon, C.L.R. James, and Angela Davis. As part of the project, Franz and I also host an event series on Hegel and colonialism, racism, and anti-colonial thought. Some of our past events were in the news – you can read about them here (in German).
In our collaborative project Rasse: Negotiating a Fraught German Term, Leda Berio, Kurt Erbach, Benedict Kenyah-Damptey, Steffen Koch, Esther Seyffarth, Alex Wiegmann, and I use various empirical methods to investigate how talk and thought about ‘race’ and ‘Rasse’ differ in the United States and Germany. Moreover, we explore how these differences bear on the question of whether ‘Rasse’-talk should be conserved (including in a revised, social constructionist meaning) or eliminated (or, at least in some contexts, replaced with ‘racialization’ talk) in the German context.
Building on the findings of this project, I am currently also exploring how a conception of racism in terms of racialization (as opposed to race) can account for structural racism, as well as putative forms of racism that – like antisemitism, antislavism, and antiromanyism – are particularly relevant in the European context but hitherto underexplored in the philosophy of race.
Besides my scholarly work, I also co-organise the First-Gen Philosophers campaign (with Barbara Vetter in Germany, Simona Aimar in the UK and Marcello Oreste Fiocco in the US), which seeks to make first-gen students and academics in philosophy more visible and explore ways to improve their situation in academia.
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Papers by Daniel James
Workshops by Daniel James
The silence of political theory suggests that classical concepts of multiculturalism, republicanism, recognition and justice might be inadequate to tackle the banality of racism in Europe‘s postcolonial and post-fascist societies. Based on this assumption, the workshop aims to widen the field of political theory’s hegemonic canon and concepts. Which theoretical strands and marginalized forms of knowledge are necessary to establish political theory as a ‚race‘ critical theory? Which concepts enable political theory to both grasp and critique racist habits, practices, discourses and institutions in democratic societies? How can political theory confront the legacies and continuities of European colonialisms and racisms that reverberate epistemologically within its own discipline? And finally, what is the responsibility of politically and ethically engaged academics in the light of an ever increasing racism?
This two-day interdisciplinary workshop will gather scholars working in the fields of political theory, legal theory, sociology and philosophy to share their different theoretical perspectives on racism in its interdependency with classism, sexism, homo- and trans*phobia. Besides individual papers, a roundtable discussion will highlight their engagement with bridging the gap between a ‚race‘ critical theory and an anti-racist political practice.
Drafts by Daniel James
How does Hegel’s theory of social reality connect to more recent work in social ontology and social metaphysics? In this article, we explore this question with regard to Hegel’s metaphysical views about the kinds that articulate social reality. In particular, we aim to identify in Hegel a way of conceptualising (a particular type of) social kinds that differs in interesting ways from the options presented by contemporary social metaphysicians such as Sally Haslanger, Ron Mallon and Theodore Bach. For this purpose, we connect Hegel’s social theory to his general metaphysical framework—which we take to be based on an approach in which reality is fundamentally articulated by objective kinds or, in his terminology, “concepts” (Begriffe)— and we use his theory of occupational kinds in civil society (estates and their sub-kinds, i.e. professional branches) as a case study.
Our discussion is organised as follows. In section 1, we summarise our understanding of relevant parts of Hegel’s general metaphysical framework and provide evidence for the hypothesis that Hegel applies this framework also to the social world, including the postulation of social kinds. In section 2, we situate the resulting view of social kinds in the context of the contemporary debate on social kinds. In section 3, we turn to Hegel’s theory of occupational kinds and examine how he understands the structure and constitution of this important example of social kinds. On this basis, we explore in section 4 various ways this account can be made fruitful in the context of the contemporary debate.
Talks by Daniel James
The silence of political theory suggests that classical concepts of multiculturalism, republicanism, recognition and justice might be inadequate to tackle the banality of racism in Europe‘s postcolonial and post-fascist societies. Based on this assumption, the workshop aims to widen the field of political theory’s hegemonic canon and concepts. Which theoretical strands and marginalized forms of knowledge are necessary to establish political theory as a ‚race‘ critical theory? Which concepts enable political theory to both grasp and critique racist habits, practices, discourses and institutions in democratic societies? How can political theory confront the legacies and continuities of European colonialisms and racisms that reverberate epistemologically within its own discipline? And finally, what is the responsibility of politically and ethically engaged academics in the light of an ever increasing racism?
This two-day interdisciplinary workshop will gather scholars working in the fields of political theory, legal theory, sociology and philosophy to share their different theoretical perspectives on racism in its interdependency with classism, sexism, homo- and trans*phobia. Besides individual papers, a roundtable discussion will highlight their engagement with bridging the gap between a ‚race‘ critical theory and an anti-racist political practice.
How does Hegel’s theory of social reality connect to more recent work in social ontology and social metaphysics? In this article, we explore this question with regard to Hegel’s metaphysical views about the kinds that articulate social reality. In particular, we aim to identify in Hegel a way of conceptualising (a particular type of) social kinds that differs in interesting ways from the options presented by contemporary social metaphysicians such as Sally Haslanger, Ron Mallon and Theodore Bach. For this purpose, we connect Hegel’s social theory to his general metaphysical framework—which we take to be based on an approach in which reality is fundamentally articulated by objective kinds or, in his terminology, “concepts” (Begriffe)— and we use his theory of occupational kinds in civil society (estates and their sub-kinds, i.e. professional branches) as a case study.
Our discussion is organised as follows. In section 1, we summarise our understanding of relevant parts of Hegel’s general metaphysical framework and provide evidence for the hypothesis that Hegel applies this framework also to the social world, including the postulation of social kinds. In section 2, we situate the resulting view of social kinds in the context of the contemporary debate on social kinds. In section 3, we turn to Hegel’s theory of occupational kinds and examine how he understands the structure and constitution of this important example of social kinds. On this basis, we explore in section 4 various ways this account can be made fruitful in the context of the contemporary debate.