PG "Work In Progress" Seminar
TBC FOR 2026/27Postgraduate Work-In-Progress SeminarA weekly seminar for Philosophy postgraduates to present their in-progress work, followed by a well-spirited trip to the pub. OverviewThe WIP provides a risk-free and supportive space for postgraduates to present their work and receive feedback from other graduates and faculty.
Attendance optional but highly recommended. All postgraduates are welcome to present or attend -- whether MA, MPhil, PhD, Visitors, etc. Useful InfoThe WIP is a unique opportunity for graduates to develop their presenting and writing skills, take risks, test out ideas, and receive constructive feedback from peers.
Presentations need not be watertight or polished pieces at all. You are encouraged to present work at all stages of the writing process. "Should I present?"1. If you are a postgraduate, then you should present. 2. You are a postgraduate. 3. Therefore, you should present. |
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Postgraduate Work in Progress Seminar
Mostyn Taylor Crocket鈥檚 鈥�Towards a Genealogy of Modernity: Time and History in Althusser, Balibar and Foucault鈥�.
Abstract
In this paper I investigate the possibility of a genealogical study of modernity. Foucauldian genealogy is an important historical approach but is one that has, I argue, been unable to properly analyse what I call combinatory phenomena (e.g. modernity or capitalism). I suggest that this inability stems from genealogy鈥檚 rejection of totalization. I claim that turning to Louis Althusser and Etienne Balibar鈥檚 contributions to Reading Capital can provide us with a way of understanding 鈥榗ombinatory phenomena鈥� which does not lapse into a totalization. I show how their critique of traditional historical periodization and their theory of 鈥榟eterogenous temporalities鈥� allows us to understand the social formation as constructed out of multiple times and histories. Finally, I show how this can serve as the theoretical basis of a method which investigates the connections between genealogies in producing 鈥榗ombinatory phenomena鈥�, taking Foucault鈥檚 genealogies as my examples.