Emancipation and the unjust past

Abstract

What is the relationship between unjust history and present revolutionary actions? In this Seminar, the speaker will build on Walter Benjamin’s insights on history, historical progress and revolution to develop a distinctive approach to historical injustices and our obligations towards them. By engaging with feminist LGBTQ+ activism, they will stress the emancipatory force of the unjust past. In particular, Alisia will argue that a crucial and demanding obligation arising from an unjust past is to continue the historical fight against oppression in the name of those oppressed in the past who are now dead. An account of obligations for historical injustices inspired by Benjamin vindicates the centrality of the dead in our considerations about justice. However, unlike other existing approaches centred on our duties towards the dead, this new account is distinctive in focusing on the interdependence of the unjust past and the present and suggesting that obligations towards the dead can be fully discharged in activist politics. By comparing different types of LGBTQ+ campaigns, they will show how discharging our obligations towards the dead in activist politics is crucial yet challenging.