We are delighted to invite you to the third talk of the Fall 2022/2023 semester of the American Studies Colloquium Series:

Jakub Kowalewski
(Birkbeck, University of London/St Mary’s University)

The Shapes of Apocalyptic Time: Decolonising Eco-Eschatology

 This is an in-person event.

Thursday, October 27, 2022
at 4:45 p.m.

You can get 3 OZN points for participating in this event.
Check how to collect OZN points online here.

Where?

Room 317
al. Niepodległości 22, Warsaw
(the building features some mobility accommodations: ramp and lift)

What?

In a recent article, Delf Rothe argues that contemporary ecological discourses are “deeply influenced by a linear temporality and a common orientation towards the threat of the end of time” derived from Christian eschatology (Rothe, 2020). Importantly, the belief that historical time is a single line leading to an apocalyptic event, generates two serious, interrelated problems for eco-eschatologies:

P1: The linear view of time centred around a present climate crisis or a future ecological catastrophe disregards past “ends of the world” experienced by colonised communities.

P2: The single timeline, expressed for instance in a narrative about future human extinction common to eco-apocalyptic discourses, creates faux-universalism by concealing the spatial and temporal distributions of the climate crises.

The aim of this paper is to offer a theoretical corrective to eco-eschatologies by proposing an alternative model of eschatological time capable of addressing both P1 and P2. In order to do so, I will first argue that the model of historical time found in apocalyptic literature is not a line but a spiral which combines linear and cyclical elements. Such an understanding of time would respond to P1 by recognising the connection between the past, present and future apocalypses, and the constitutive role of past “ends of the world” for an eco-eschatological history. I will then argue that apocalyptic discourse presupposes multiple timelines, whose relationship can be understood as a non-contemporaneous historical totality. I will sketch the latter in order to show how such a model of time can address P2. I will conclude by suggesting that a twofold understanding of eco-eschatological time – as a spiral and as a non-contemporaneous totality – can help us to devise, respectively, tactics and strategy for decolonial environmental politics.

Who?

Jakub Kowalewski works at Birkbeck, University of London and at St Mary’s University. He is the editor of “The Environmental Apocalypse: Interdisciplinary Reflections on the Climate Crisis” (forthcoming with Routledge), and is currently writing a book, also for Routledge, entitled “A Philosophy of Climate Apocalypticism: In and Against the World.” Jakub holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Essex.

News

ASC Library closed during the Easter holiday

March 22, 2024

During the Easter holiday (March 28 – April 2, 2024) the ASC Library will be closed. Have a great Easter break!

News

The classes offered by the ASC are canceled from March 25th to 27th

March 21, 2024

From March 25th to 27th, the classes offered by the ASC are canceled, while other, non-ASC classes (physical education, languages. OGUN) will proceed according to the schedule.

American Studies Colloquium Series

March 21: American-German Relations: From Partnership in Leadership to War in Ukraine

March 21, 2024

We are pleased to invite you to the third lecture of the American Studies Colloquium Series in the 2023/2024 Spring semester! The lecture will try to outline the historical roots of the complicated relations between USA and Germany as well as focus on the recent debates surrounding the war in Ukraine.

Year 2023/2024

March 19: The Algernon-Gordon Effect: Rethinking Human-Animal Relationships

March 19, 2024

Weird Fictions Research Group proudly invites you to the next “Weird Medicine” event! During this workshop, we will reflect upon the potentialities of Daniel Keyes’ Hugo Award-winning short story “Flowers for Algernon” (1959) to challenge—or not—our relationship with laboratory animals.

News

ASC Offices Holiday Break

March 19, 2024

From March 28th to April 2nd, the Students’ Affairs Office will be closed due to the Easter break. On April 3rd, the Students’ Affairs Office will be closed because of staff training.