Professor Braidotti taught at the University of Utrecht from 1988‒2021. She is considered one of the world’s leading scholars in gender studies and posthumanism – a school of philosophical thought that aims to move beyond traditional understandings of what it means to be human. This idea questions the special position often reserved for humans as compared with the positions given to animals or plants. As such, humans should not have the right to subjugate and exploit nature for their own gain. Professor Braidotti’s “affirmative ethics” makes connections with the works of Dutch philosopher Baruch de Spinoza (1632‒1677).

“The simultaneous occurrence of cognitive capitalism (also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution) and climate change (or the Sixth Extinction) encourages a critical reappraisal of what counts as human, and how humans relate to non-humans and living matter itself,” asserts the text with which Braidotti announced her lecture. This posthuman convergence involves a serious reconsideration of the negative emotions and the experience of pain, mourning, and dispossession that are significant features of the posthuman condition.

“Caught between technologically-driven optimism and ecologically-based despair, both human and non-human dwellers of this planet face uncertain times and deep fears,” says Braidotti in an interview prior to the Hegel Lecture 2023. These include environmental devastation, unequal distribution of wealth and access to new technologies, the persistence of technologically mediated wars and surveillance strategies which, together with the rise of racism, xenophobia, and illiberal governance, are defining features of our times, Braidotti argues. Her lecture proposes a form of ethical accountability developed from the critiques of both anthropocentrism and exclusive humanism. If we are to deal with the conflicts and challenges of our current predicament, Braidotti claims that we must practice neo-materialist affirmative ethics for posthuman subjects.

Professor Braidotti will also be hosting a workshop the day after the lecture. Students and doctoral candidates in humanities fields are warmly invited to attend.