About the Research group
This research group aims at exploring the multiple intersections of the work of Simone de Beauvoir and Marxist thought. We aim to tackle questions of intellectual influence, historical situatedness, constructive dialogue and critical dispute, mutual conceptual information, philosophical (in)compatibility, convergence and complementarity, and more...
We meet once a month online to discuss topics determined by the participants. A variety of formats are possible: reading group style discussions, open discussions of a given topic, presentation of one's work, discussion of possible common future projects...
We aim to create a safer space for the sharing of knowledge and ideas and to foster an open discussion, avoiding hierarchies (of knowledge, status, institutional ones, etc.) as much as possible.
For more information on the RG, please see the following document.
To join the mailing list, write to: Anna Ceschi ([email protected]) or Katja Čičigoj ([email protected]).
We meet once a month online to discuss topics determined by the participants. A variety of formats are possible: reading group style discussions, open discussions of a given topic, presentation of one's work, discussion of possible common future projects...
We aim to create a safer space for the sharing of knowledge and ideas and to foster an open discussion, avoiding hierarchies (of knowledge, status, institutional ones, etc.) as much as possible.
For more information on the RG, please see the following document.
To join the mailing list, write to: Anna Ceschi ([email protected]) or Katja Čičigoj ([email protected]).
Simone de Beauvoir (on right) with militants of the Mouvement de Liberation des Femmes at the day of Denunciation of Crimes Committed Against Women, Paris, May 13, 1972. (Photo by Mariza de Athayde, in Feminist Revolution).
Upcoming
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Title of the presentation:
"The limitations of ahistorical methods of thought and the potential of historical and dialectical materialism in The Second Sex (1949)" Abstract: In this presentation, I seek to demonstrate that Simone de Beauvoir incorporates the historical-dialectical materialist method in her analysis of women’s oppression in The Second Sex (1949). My interpretive thesis is that Beauvoir incorporates the materialist method in her critique of biology and psychoanalysis, without losing sight of the limitations she observes in Engels' use of the method in relation to women. My goal is to demonstrate that Beauvoir's critique of Engels' use of the materialist method in The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State does not indicate, as a careless reading might suggest, a rejection of Marxism — nor, for that matter, a strictly materialist analysis. These objections, as I will show, primarily point to the philosopher's critical and engaged position concerning Marxist thought, a stance held since at least the 1940s. Suggested readings:
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Past
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December 4, 2025
Time: 5pm Topic: Cara Greene, "Beauvoir's Theory of Phenomenological Sacrifice" April 17, 2025 Time: 4:30pm Topic: William Artz, "Marxian Economics is it a Literary Matter at All?" March 20, 2025 Time: 4:30pm Topic: Anna Ceschi, "Beauvoir and the Problem of Realism in Postwar France" February 20, 2025 Time 10am CET Topic: Sally Scholz, "The Second Sex at 75: Freedom at War" January 16, 2025 Time 10am CET Topic: Farhan Cundi Idris, "Negri, Beauvoir, and Biopolitical Production" December 19, 2024 Time 10am CET Topic: Miguel Herrera Chario, "Woman in The Second Sex: Liberation or Destruction?" May 15, 2024 Time: 20:00 CET / 14.00 EST summer time / 4.00 (May 16) Melbourne Topic: Marxism in/and The Second Sex. Link to the shared document April 17, 2024 Time: 20:00 CET / 15.00 EST summer time / 6.00 (April 17) Melbourne Topic: Marxism in/and The Second Sex Link to the shared document March 15, 2024 Topic: Marxism in/and The Second Sex Link to the shared document February 19, 2024 Topic: Beauvoir and US Second Wave Feminism Link to the shared document January 19, 2024 Topic: Kick off meeting Link to the shared document |
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