The G+C Blog has just published a new paper by Robert Gehl on "Reverse Engineering and Genealogy." Gehl, who teaches communication at the University of Utah, articulates the practice of tracing software back to preceding versions with Foucault's history of the present. His article explores the theoretical bases for reverse engineering, drawing mainly on software engineering literature, and considers the ways in which this technical approach might inform genealogical inquiry along Foucauldian lines. The paper is based on research conducted for Gehl's book Reverse Engineering Social Media (2014).

An der Universität Wien findet von 4. bis 5. November 2016 eine Tagung zu Foucault als politischem Theoretiker statt. Wir posten hier die Kurzbeschreibung der Veranstalter und verlinken unten den vollständigen Call for Papers…

The G+C Blog has just published an issue on "Distant Reading and Discourse Analysis." We wanted to know if a digital 'archaeology of knowledge' is possible and started our inquiry with a workshop in Vienna in November 2015. Selected speakers developed their presentations into substantial papers that appeared on the G+C Blog and are now published in the form of an edited volume…

Preparing for a Critical Genealogies Workshop, to be held at the University of Denver on June 17–18, 2016, G+C Blog editor Colin Koopman conducted a group interview with some of the event's participants, namely Verena Erlenbusch, Simon Ganahl, Robert W. Gehl, Thomas Nail, and Perry Zurn. The methodological discussion focuses less on the interpretation of Foucault's work and more on the critical and transformative redeployment of Foucault's philosophical toolkit. What is most usable in Foucault's genealogical method for today's critical tasks? What is most unusable, or frustrating, in Foucault's library for us today? And who else might we turn to alongside Foucault for our critical, philosophical, and historical energies?

Am 1. Juni zeigte der deutsch-französische Kooperationssender Arte eine 90-minütige Dokumentation über die 1968 gegründete Reformuniversität Vincennes (heute: Universität Paris VIII). Unter dem Titel "Vincennes – Die revolutionäre Uni" (Frankreich 2016) beleuchtet dieser Film ein wichtiges Kapitel französischer Intellektuellengeschichte und portraitiert jenes linksalternative Milieu, in dem sich neben Foucault auch Gilles Deleuze, Jean-François Lyotard, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Rancière, Noam Chomsky, Pierre Paolo Pasolini und Herbert Marcuse als Professoren und Dozenten engagierten.

Here we go now: The G+C Blog is proud to exclusively publish an interview with Franco Moretti. As previously announced, the interview was conducted by Ruben Hackler and Guido Kirsten in Zurich this march, following a workshop with the renowned literary scholar at the center "History of Knowledge." The contribution is part of our series on "Distant Reading and Discourse Analysis." In this extensive interview, Moretti talks about his intellectual influences, the development of his controversial concepts, and the question what literary history might contribute to a social critique of the present.

The G+C Blog looks forward to publishing an extensive interview with Franco Moretti. It was conducted by Ruben Hackler and Guido Kirsten in Zurich this March, following a workshop with the renowned literary scholar at the center "History of Knowledge." The forthcoming piece is part of our ongoing series on "Distant Reading and Discourse Analysis." This exclusively published interview will cover a broad range of topics: from Moretti's biography and intellectual influences via the development of his major concepts to the question what literary history might contribute to a social critique of the present. Stay tuned!