Martedì 8 aprile 2025, aula LSM.1, ore 10:15-11:45
While Michel Serres’ work has become relatively well-known among social theoreticians in recent years, his explicit thematization of the foundations of human collectives has gained surprisingly little attention. This article claims that Serres’ approach to the theme of foundations can be clarified by scrutinizing the way in which he poses and answers the following three questions: How are we together? What and whom do we exclude from our togetherness and how? Who are we today? Instead of starting with a ready-made order, be it in the form of individuals or society, Serres pushes social research to take up the challenge of examining the point at which order is about to emerge out of noise and chaos, but where the outcome of the process remains uncertain. Especially relevant to the discussion are Serres’ books Rome, Statues and Geometry, all three of which bear the subtitle Book of Foundations.
Biography: Turo-Kimmo Lehtonen is Professor of Sociology at Tampere University, Finland. His main topic area of interest is insurance and the management of uncertainty. In addition, in recent years he has studied, with Olli Pyyhtinen, practices of dumpster diving for food and, more broadly, the role of waste in the contemporary way of life. Lehtonen has also written extensively on social theory. Alone and with colleagues he has recently published papers in the journals Political Theory, Theory, Culture & Society, Economy and Society, The British Journal of Sociology, The Sociological Review and Anthropological Theory.
Email: turo-kimmo.lehtonen@tuni.fi
Website: http://www.uta.fi/yky/en/contact/personnel/turo-kimmolehtonen/index.html