The Dialectics of Work: Labour as Real Abstraction, Thought Abstraction and Abstract Universality

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A research seminar with Dr Alastair Hemmens (Cardiff University), as part of the Capitalism, Crisis and Ideology research theme at the School of Modern Languages.

Abstract

This paper will explore the, largely Hegelian, philosophical categories that underpin a modern critical theory of labour. Specifically, it will examine the different forms of abstraction – rational and irrational, real and thought, vulgar and critical, as well as abstract versus concrete universality – that mediate social thought and practice in capitalism, understood, in these terms, as an historically specific social formation based on ‘abstract labour’. The critical theory of labour, and capitalism as a whole, that emerges out of a consideration of these categories has immense implications for almost every aspect of the critical analysis of modern society and, as a result, for emancipatory social practice more generally. The paper will revisit, in particular, the intellectual and cultural history of work as a vulgar thought abstraction from its inception in the sixteenth century to the present day. It will conclude by arguing that we need to completely re-examine how we understand work if we are to confront the disaster of modern history and the myriad social and environmental crises that we currently face.

Biography

Alastair Hemmens is a critical political theorist and intellectual historian of modern France. After completing a PhD in French at the University of London Institute in Paris in 2014, he undertook a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at Cardiff University, School of Modern Languages, where he teaches French culture, history and language. He is the author of The Critique of Work in Modern French Thought, from Charles Fourier to Guy Debord (forthcoming with Palgrave Macmillan in 2019) and has translated a number of works of critical theory, most notably, Anselm Jappe’s The Writing on the Wall: On the Decomposition of Capitalism and its Critics (Zero Books, 2017).

Simultaneous Translation

The event will be delivered in the medium of English. You are welcome to ask questions in the medium of Welsh during the QandA session. If you intend to do this, please contact mlang-events@cardiff.ac.uk by Wednesday 20 March to request simultaneous translation. Please note that 10% or more of those planning to attend will need to request this provision in order for it to be sourced and will be subject to resource availability.

Registration

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