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This second lecture examines what role intellectuals from oppressed groups should play in the struggle for their group’s liberation. It draws on the work of Du Bois and Wright to ask whether such intellectuals should subordinate their interest in art and ideas to political resistance against injustice. It also probes a deep tension between the characteristic dispositions of intellectuals and the demands of political solidarity, and it asks how (if at all) this tension might be resolved or lessened.
In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures – and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique – a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2025, Tommie Shelby will hold the Benjamin Chair.
The Benjamin Lectures by Tommie Shelby entitled „Political Ethics of the Oppressed: Freedom, Solidarity, and Self-Respect“ was given on the 18th, 19th and 20th of June 2025 at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10 in Berlin.
By @CriticalTheoryinBerlin (Youtube)
