This seminar will be based on a book that argues that some contemporary biopolitical histories inherit problematic philosophies of history whose historical-geographical borders recapitulate colonial modes of thought.
In the first part, Professor António Tomás argues that the philosophies of history that operate in the background of Foucault and Agamben’s presentation of biopolitics cannot be maintained in its Western simplicity. In response to this, he suggests a radicalization of the genealogical method and the maintenance of an anti-realist position in regard to the ‘West.’
In the second section he extends Amílcar Cabral’s methods for decolonizing history and demonstrate the ways in which the revolutionary socialism that he implemented in Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde actually operates in a biopolitical register. Professor António Tomás argues that a close analysis of Cabral and the PAIGC’s biopolitical socialism in Luso-Africa not only calls into question the historical-geographical borders established by Foucault and Agamben, but also challenges some of their central claims, especially those pertaining to racism.
About Professor António Tomás
António Tomás is a programme convenor in the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Johannesburg. Trained as an anthropologist at Columbia University, in the city of New York, he has taught in several institutions of higher education in Africa, namely Makerere Institute of Social Research (Kampala, Uganda), Stellenbosch University, University of Cape Town and University of Johannesburg (all in South Africa).
Tomás' research engages with two sets of ideas. He is firstly interested in colonialism, decolonization and the politics of independence in Africa. Another stream of his work engages with urban studies, and particularly urban transformation. Some of his recent publications are: Amílcar Cabral: the Life of a Reluctant Nationalist (Hurst, 2021); and In the Skin of the City: Spatial Transformation in Luanda (Duke University Press, 2022). More recently, he has embarked on a research project on the armed conflicts in Southern Africa, particularly South Africa’s invasion of Angola (1975-1988) and the Angolan Civil Wars (1975-2002).
Contact: Ramon Sarró
ramon.sarro@anthro.ox.ac.uk
