Interactive metal fatigue. The interpassive transformation of democratic life

Bart van Leeuwen

Bart van Leeuwen received his master degree in philosophical anthropology from the University of Amsterdam in 1995. In 2001, he successfully (summa cum laude) defended his dissertation at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Title of his thesis: “Erkenning, identiteit en verschil; een sociaal-filosofische studie over multiculturalisme en leven met culturele diversiteit” (“Recognition, identity and difference; a social-philosophical study on multiculturalism and living with cultural diversity”). Bart van Leeuwen is also member of the joint faculty study group ‘Migratie en multiculturalisme’, K.U. Leuven.. and participating in the study group ‘Immigratie, integratie en terugkeer’, Onderzoekschool Ethiek.

In January 2004, Bart van Leeuwen received funding for a research project from NWO. This project was entitled: Through the Eyes of Hatred. An Interpretation of Racism from Sartre’s Existential Phenomenology. This was carried out from 2004-2007 at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of the Humanities, of the University of Amsterdam.
The theoretical contribution of philosophy to the understanding of racism has been very limited. Philosophy is mainly concerned with the moral justification of the universal respect for human life and cultural differences. But philosophy must also critically interpret the phenomenon it morally condemns, namely, racism. The goal of this research project is to interpret some of the structural aspects of racist hatred in the context of Sartre’s existential phenomenology and his emotion theory. The research question is whether Sartre’s negative model of intersubjectivity can help us gain insights into the affective-dynamic aspects of racism and in what way racism can be understood as a kind of “bad faith” (mauvaise foi), namely, as a flight from human indeterminacy and responsibility. The methodological approach is an empirically checked phenomenology, by checking our interpretation of racism with the results of social science.

Since December 2007, Bart van Leeuwen is post doc researcher in the Interactive metal fatigue research project at the Faculty of Philosophy of the EUR. His research focuses on urban life, with its incessant stimuli, experiences, pressures, and demands, as an important factor in the rise of interpassivity. He aims to formulate a theory of modern urban citizenship that can accommodate the phenomenon of interpassivity.

For more information, see Bart van Leeuwens website at the Department of Philosophy EUR

Last change: January 20, 2009