Crises, Critique and the Global Condition
16 JULY 2025 > 6PM I GRANDE AUDITÓRIO FBAUL
Round table, Crises, Critique and the Global Condition
Famously, crisis and critique are conceptually linked: a crisis is a turning point in a situation that demands critique—a decision or judgment. In the tradition of critical thinking, a crisis is understood as revealing deeper contradictions in society, while critique is the diagnostic and emancipatory act of understanding those contradictions and imagining alternatives. In today’s globalised world, crises are increasingly global in nature—ranging from the climate crisis, migration and humanitarian emergencies, financial and economic turmoil, and health crises (as revealed by the pandemic), to crises of democracy and legitimacy marked by the rise of populism and far-right movements. But if crises are global, what happens to critique? If critique must operate on a global scale, what exactly is its global dimension? Does a global critique risk becoming colonising or totalising in its reach? Conversely, if global critique consists of a plurality of local critical attitudes and gestures rooted in diverse cultural contexts, does critique risk becoming fragmented? And if critique is exercised within different forms of life, can emancipation remain local without undermining its universalising impulse?
These and other questions will be explored at the public roundtable Crises, Critique and the Global Condition, held at the Faculdade de Belas Artes, University of Lisbon, with the participation of invited speakers:
- Rocío Zambrana (University of Puerto Rico)
- Malte Frøslee Ibsen (UCL London)
- Robin Celikates (Freie Universität Berlin)
This roundtable is part of the Lisbon Praxis Summer School, held at Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa, July 14-18th: https://cful.letras.ulisboa.pt/events/lpss-2025/