Karatani Kojin on Nation and Beyond & Between Scapes and Nations: Rethinking the Nation-State with Bourdieu and Appadurai

Ching-yuen Cheung (The University of Tokyo), Matteo Cestari (Università degli Studi di Torino)

Wednesday, November 4, 2026, 2–4 p.m. (Paris time, CET) — session in English

• Cheung Ching-yuen 張政遠 (The University of Tokyo): Karatani Kojin on Nation and Beyond

• Matteo Cestari (Università degli Studi di Torino): Between Scapes and Nations: Rethinking the Nation-State with Bourdieu and Appadurai

About the Seminar "Philosophy and the National Question"

Taking as its starting point the concept of "philosophical nationalism" proposed by Jacques Derrida, this seminar will examine the relationships between nation, nationality, nationalism, and philosophy. It will explore how national and nationalist discourses have accompanied the construction of modern philosophical historiography, as well as the development of comparative and intercultural philosophy. Indeed, the division of the world into "philosophical nations" remains one of the implicit frameworks of comparativism, and may turn the "dialogue between traditions" into a discourse liable to legitimize national ideologies. The seminar will therefore question the philosophical relevance of these divisions: do philosophical identities or recognizable places of thought exist? Can one speak of national styles without fetishizing differences, and without overlooking circulations, reciprocal influences, and the cosmopolitan vocation of philosophy? Finally, it will assess philosophy's capacity to interrogate national and nationalist phenomena and, where appropriate, identify its possible perspectives and how they differ from the approaches proper to the social sciences.

The seminar is co-organized by Romaric Jannel and Héctor G. Castaño in the framework of the Collège international de philosophie. All sessions are open to everyone and free of charge.