Michel Serres, Porous Becomings, and the Social Contract Tradition

Andreas Bandak, Daniel M. Knight, Christopher Watkin (Monash University)

10am UTC, 8pm Melbourne time

What new perspectives does the work of Michel Serres bring to today's most pressing social questions? What work can the idea of a natural contrat do in today's ecological debates? How is knowledge constructed today, and what is at stake in its modes of production? Join Andreas Bandak, Daniel M. Knight (co-authors of Porous Becomings: Anthropological Engagements with Michel Serres) and Christopher Watkin (author of Michel Serres: Figures of Thought) for a roundtable discussion of the importance of Michel Serres today. The session will include plenty of time for audience contributions, discussion, and questions.

Dr. Andreas Bandak is Assistant Professor in the Department for Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen. His research focuses on Christian minorities in Syria and the themes of prayer, the power of examples, and the stakes of co-existence. His work has been published in a number of prominent journals including Current Anthropology, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Ethnos, and Religion and Society. He has also co-edited the volumes Politics of Worship in the Contemporary Middle East (with Mikkel Bille, 2013) and Qualitative Analysis in the Making (with Daniella Kuzmanovic, 2014).

Dr. Daniel M. Knight is a Reader in Social Anthropology and Director of the Centre for Cosmopolitan Studies at the University of St Andrews. He holds a PhD in Anthropology from Durham University and a BA from the University of Wales, Lampeter. His research in Thessaly, Greece, focuses on economic crisis, time, temporality, neoliberalism, neocolonialism, and renewable energy. His books include History, Time, and Economic Crisis in Central Greece (2015), The Anthropology of the Future (2019), and Vertiginous Life (2021). He is co-editor with Andreas Bandak of Porous Becomings: Anthropological Engagements with Michel Serres (2024).

A/Prof Christopher Watkin is an ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Monash University. His publications include Difficult Atheism (2011), French Philosophy Today (2016), and Michel Serres: Figures of Thought (2020).