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Ernst Bloch Centre |
The Centre for Ernst Bloch StudiesErnst Bloch is most famous for some standard phrases which have gone into the German language but which are very rarely, if at all, attributed to him. Der aufrechte Gang (the upright gait), die konkrete Utopie (concrete utopia), das Prinzip Hoffnung (the Principle of Hope - also the title of his three volume magnum opus, published in the 1950s) are just three of the concepts which demonstrate his commitment to rescuing political, historical and philosophical change back from the dogmatists of stasis and to putting individual human concerns and rights back at the centre of philosophical considerations. Behind all of his work is a both a documentation of, but also a contribution to the optimistic drive forward into new philosophical territories. From his early Nietzschean and expressionist work 'Geist der Utopie' (spirit of utopia), via his studies of the relationship between Religion and History ('Atheismus im Christentum') through to his analysis of human dignity and natural law ('Naturrecht und menschliche Würde' - written after his experience of having lived under Stalinist rule in the GDR), his constant concern was with demonstrating that we are not human beings but human becomings. His thoughts on these issues have been decisive inspirations for many writers and thinkers in the past decades and, in particular, his ideas about the role of religion in society are becoming increasingly pertinent in the post-secular age. The Centre for Ernst Bloch Studies has been established within the Department of Germanic Studies in order to investigate Bloch´s contribution to 20th Century European philosophy and to rescue him from undeserved obscurity in the English-speaking world. This is being done not for its own sake but to see if the concepts and approaches he adopted can be applied profitably to an understanding of our own age in a vastly changed and changing world. After the frozen dialectic of the Cold War in the 20th century, the recommencement of social and religious conflict in the 21st century demands of us new ways of thinking. The Centre is designed to function as a forum for the investigation of concepts of culture, philosophy, history, religion, society, sociology, psychology and politics (all disciplines which are covered in Bloch´s work) and, it is hoped, as a place where the links between these disciplines and history can be reconnected after the barren years of deconstruction. Bloch was concerned to show how the world fitted together and how the place we have arrived at is the product of the journey to that place. For him, however, the journey was not yet complete and the search for 'Heimat' (home) was not to be found by simply harking back to something lost but in harking forward to something not yet become. The Centre for Ernst Bloch Studies will therefore be dedicated to understanding the processes and trends which have brought us this far as well as those which will carry us on. The Centre will be organising workshops and conferences over the coming years and already around 60 participants include Slavoj Zizek, Fredric Jameson, Jan Robert Bloch, Tom Nairn and many others who have declared their support. An edited volume entitled 'The Privatisation of Hope' is already in the planning stage and a monograph by Dr Thompson entitled 'Ernst Bloch and the Return of Religion' is now underway. If you would like to get involved in the work of the Centre then please contact the Director, email : Dr Peter Thompson Department of Germanic Studies |