Papers by Marco Angella
Critical Horizons , 2021
In this paper, I will offer some examples of the effectiveness of Adorno's concept of mimesis for... more In this paper, I will offer some examples of the effectiveness of Adorno's concept of mimesis for an analysis of extreme violence and for a defence of democratic institutions against possible regressions into authoritarian regimes. I will start by reading the concept of mimesis through the lens of the interlacement between the concepts of play and power. My aim is twofold: first, I wish to further the analysis of Adorno's concept of mimesis by showing that it can be interpreted as a form of play, which either empowers subjectivity or becomes a means of domination; second, I will use these speculations to highlight the relevance of Horkheimer and Adorno's explanation of anti-Semitic violence when seen through the lens of the concept mimesis. Before concluding, I will briefly highlight Adorno's ideas about what makes democracy vulnerable to potential regressions into extreme violence, and examine what can be done practically from an Adornian perspective to avoid regression: defending democratic institutions, and working towards a removal of those barriers that obstruct genuine mimetic experience and self-reflection.
Radical Philosophy Review, 2019
I begin by briefly reconstructing Honneth’s concept of reification. His paradigm gives the reific... more I begin by briefly reconstructing Honneth’s concept of reification. His paradigm gives the reification of the non-human environment a marginal position in comparison to the reification of human beings, thereby detracting from its explanatory and critical potential. In order to avoid this outcome, I subsequently present a paradigm of subject identity formation in which not only affectively-based intersubjective interactions, but also affectively-based interactions with the non-human environment are, in both a “genetic” and a “conceptual” sense, essential to establish an objective and meaningful relationship with external reality. On the basis of this paradigm a closer connection can be identified between the reification of human beings and the reification of the non-human environment – a connection in which the reification of the latter may reinforce human reification (and vice versa).
Over three decades, Axel Honneth has developed one of the most fully-structured recognition parad... more Over three decades, Axel Honneth has developed one of the most fully-structured recognition paradigms in the field of social philosophy. Although it has undergone considerable theoretical changes, this paradigm retains a strong unity. I will analyze it in light of the Frankfurt school critical social theory research program. By so doing, I aim, first, to outline a defense of Honneth's theory against growing criticisms, which tend to see depletion of its critical insights in his most recent works. Secondly, I aim to highlight that most of the weaknesses pointed out by his critics derive from the methodology with which Honneth frames the concept of recognition, and which he explicitly related to the Frankfurt school critical social theory. Thirdly, I argue that, insofar as we are at present witnessing a transformation in the nature of current struggles for recognition, it is precisely one of the premises of this methodology that runs the risk of being undermined (i.e. the classical relation between theory and " praxis ").
In this paper, I will analyze Axel Honneth’s theory against the background of some of the critici... more In this paper, I will analyze Axel Honneth’s theory against the background of some of the criticisms that Amy Allen levelled against it. His endeavor seems to partially compromise his ability to identify the domineering forms of power that the subject does not acknowledge consciously and affectively. I will argue that, despite some significant limitations, Honneth’s theory has become increasingly able to analyze social negativity since The struggle for recognition. Also, in both defending Honneth’s methodology and delimiting its scope, I aim to contribute to the debate between two understandings of power: power as ‘domination’ and power as ‘constitution’.
Recently, following the social and subjective consequences of the neoliberal wave, there seems to... more Recently, following the social and subjective consequences of the neoliberal wave, there seems to be a renewed interest on work as a central moment in the social and subjective life. For the first time in decades, both sociologists and critical theorists return to consider work as a major constituent of the subject's identity and, therefore, as a worthy object of analysis for those who have an interest in the critique of the social pathologies. The attempt of this article will be to analyze in a concise manner Axel Honneth's thoughts about the concept of work and to suggest a way to render its role in the social theory more robust. I will try to achieve this aim by reevaluating the importance of the material and psychological dimensions of the subject's interactions at work. My attempt is to demonstrate that the normative demands associated with these dimensions are, as well as the normative demands of recognition, immanent and universal. In other words, I will argue that the normative ideals related to the corporeal and psychic life of the subject (at work and beyond it) are not necessarily utopic in a negative way (abstract and unrealistic). If this is true, the theorists could take these normative demands of emancipation as a guide to analyze the sociological, political and moral implications of the passage from a “Fordist” to a “Post-fordist” organization of labor.
"The Limits of Reification in Axel Honneth's philosophy". In this article, I examine Honneth’s en... more "The Limits of Reification in Axel Honneth's philosophy". In this article, I examine Honneth’s endeavor to restore usefulness to the concept of reification for contemporary critical social theory. I progressively point out the insufficiency of reification as forgetfulness of recognition for a flexible and phenomenologically powerful analysis of present social pathologies. Rather than on mutual recognition, the concept of reification should be based on a paradigm of the subject that fully exploits the potentialities of psychoanalytical argumentation. In the final step of the article I illustrate the usefulness of this kind of paradigm for grasping reification as one of the elements that lead to the triggering of violence in mass murder and genocides.
"Individualization through Socialization. What room is left for Psychoanalysis?" I examine Haberm... more "Individualization through Socialization. What room is left for Psychoanalysis?" I examine Habermas’ and Honneth’s concept of individualization through socialization and contend that both have difficulties in justifying how individuals could project not only the form of future society (the form that “emancipation” understood as better individualization will take), but also its contents. This would require a different paradigm of subject identity formation and an appropriate concept of sublimation.
"Otherness and reciprocity in Recognition Theory". The article draws a comparison between Honneth... more "Otherness and reciprocity in Recognition Theory". The article draws a comparison between Honneth's and Ricoeur's respective notions of recognition. It casts light upon the multi-faced concept of otherness (altérité) which I used – in its intersubjective as well as psychological dimension – to outline a radical concept of struggle that does not aim to re-establish the previously denied identity, but rather aims at its ceaseless and ever new unfolding.
Book Reviews by Marco Angella
Book Review - Ernst Wolff, Mongameli Mabona: His life and work, Leuven: Leuven University Press., 2021
Books by Marco Angella
S’inscrivant dans le domaine de la théorie critique, en particulier celle de l’école de Francfort... more S’inscrivant dans le domaine de la théorie critique, en particulier celle de l’école de Francfort, cet ouvrage propose une analyse de la pensée d’Axel Honneth visant à l’élaboration de modèles pour le diagnostic de « pathologies sociales » telles que la réification de nos interactions avec l’environnement non-humain (nature), dans la sphère du travail et encore dans les processus menant au déclenchement de violences extrêmes. La reprise des éléments mimétiques, pulsionnels et affectifs liés au corps (très présents chez la première génération de théoriciens critiques et notamment chez Adorno) dans le cadre d’une théorie à teneur normative constitue le fil rouge d’une recherche proposant de repenser le concept de réification et d’aliénation au-delà de la reconnaissance, dans une perspective reliant théorie et pratique.
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Papers by Marco Angella
Book Reviews by Marco Angella
Books by Marco Angella