Do you happen to be in Istanbul on 2 April, in the wake of the Historical Materialism Conference? You are kindly invited to our book launch "Versuche Lukács umzudenken", with the participation of our editor Hassan Maarfi Poor, at Istanbul University Faculty of Political Science (2 April, 12:30).

It is always a good idea to watch and listen to Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia to get myself into the mood for talking about Machiavelli and his time.

The first event of the semester: a seminar on Machiavelli, organised by the Political Philosophy Student Club at Istanbul University. The seminar will focus on a comparative study of the dedicatory letters of The Prince, Discourses on Livy, The Art of War, and Florentine Histories.

A new syllabus: Readings in International Political Thought: Machiavelli in Text and Social Context atesuslu.com/wp-content/u...

The very last talk of my sabbatical period will be on “Lukács’ Social Ontology: Ontological Emergence and the Specificity of the Political". The background text is a very dense paper that Lukács wrote in 1968, in which he condenses, in 16 pages, the 1,600 pages of his Ontology.

Why does every day involve a fight with eduroam?

It is particularly ironic that 10 years ago, Kristi Sweet—who now discusses a colleague’s syllabus with College leadership and proposes the censorship of Plato readings—wrote an article that concludes with the paragraph cited above. Now tell us about liberal arts under duress, Dr. Sweet. Ridiculous.

2025 in four pictures. In the end, we keep coming back to the beginning - only to realize that the beginning has already been sublated. (Stuttgart, January (x2) - Tübingen, April - Stuttgart, December)

Nearing the end of a long sabbatical (16 months!), and preparing my return to Istanbul... It seems that I will be focusing on the 14th–18th centuries next semester: a course on political thought in that period,and a series of activities on Machiavelli (including at least a seminar and a conference).

2025’s final lecture focused on the early period of Islamic political thought (from its beginnings to al-Farabi). It was, in fact,an online guest lecture at Istanbul University. This gave me the opportunity to read some relatively recent publications on the socio-economic context. 3 wonderful reads:

Good point. Other examples that come to mind: Electra (tragedy) --> Elektra (opera) Salome (play) --> Salome (opera) I don't even like R. Strauss's music, but these are still masterpieces.

Women Writing Knowledge: Philosophy in the Early Modern World – Online Lecture Series, 2026  The Cultures of Philosophy Team at the University of Exeter is excited to announce our new online lecture series, "Women Writing Knowledge: Philosophy in the Early Modern World". In recent years, the…

The deadline for next year's HM Istanbul has been extended!!! Due to overwhelming demand, we have decided to extend the deadline for submitting paper/panel proposals to 12 December 2025. Make sure to send us your abstracts, comrades! Further details from the HM Istanbul website below.

Sounds exciting: **** [...]How could free persons be made into slaves? John Samuel Harpham shows that English authors found answers to this question in a tradition of ideas that stretched back to the ancient world, where they were most powerfully expressed in Roman law. [...]" ****

The true academic method: open 12 papers, read none of them, feel intellectually intimidated

Deadline for HM Istanbul extended!!! "Dear all, we are delighted by your interest in our conference. In response to requests, we are pleased to announce that we have extended the deadline by 10 days. The new deadline for paper and panel submissions is 3 December 2025." hmistanbul.org

My final academic talk of 2025 is the fourth session in an online seminar series on Lukács’s Aesthetics (held in Turkish). We have been reading the dense text of The Specificity of the Aesthetic paragraph by paragraph, and we have only just reached the end of the first section of the first chapter.

A wonderful conference on "Hegel, Woman and Feminism" (20229. I was particularly amazed by Ankica Čakardić's speech. youtube.com/playlist?lis...

I wonder why there is a frenzy about celebrating Spinoza’s birthday this year.

The comments section of any opera video on YouTube features a few recurring characters: 1. The Callas-fan bot 2. The contemporary-singer hater 3. The Pavarotti fan 4. The classical-staging enthusiast

Today and tomorrow: “Environmental Humanities Meets the History of Knowledge,” an interdisciplinary workshop organized at the University of Konstanz ( @uni-konstanz.de ). I will speak on “Reconsidering Nature: Lukács’s Ontological Turn and Its Contemporary Relevance,” alongside excellent colleagues.

The 1981 Stuttgart Hegel Congress—where D. Henrich, R. Spaemann, J. Habermas, and O. Pöggeler were keynote speakers, and where philosophers from the Eastern Bloc (Oizerman, Buhr...) presented alongside Gadamer, Rorty, Labarrière, and D’Hondt... We need to discuss more about the circulation of ideas.

Nicolas Tertulian was one of the foremost scholars of Lukács. The articles collected in this book are excellent examples of his ability to combine historical methods—marked by an erudite reading and contextualization of a variety of texts, especially those of Heidegger—with philosophical critique.

On board a Deutsche Bahn train heading to Berlin, in the midst of semi-insomnia, I check my itinerary and suddenly find myself transported to the late 19th- and early 20th-century history of German social democracy.

Truly and deeply honoured x.com/DeutscherPri...

This evening: A conference organized by the Chair of the History of Knowledge (Prof. Anne Kwaschik) at the University of Konstanz — “Translating Hitler,” by Olivier Mannoni.

How fascinating that this book was published just a few days before my session on "The Specter of the Haitian Revolution: Kant and Hegel on Slave Labour and the Racial Division of Labour." ☺️ ***** Hegel and Colonialism, by Daniel James and Franz Knappik. Open Access at cup.org/3LqOwGa

Today is Halloween. On All Hallows' Eve in 1590, Scottish authorities claimed 200 witches tried to prevent King James from reaching his bride in Denmark. Dozens were arrested & tortured, and 1000s killed in an era of sexist witch-hunts. Learn more here: shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/wit...

Nobody seems to have noticed, but the event is actually scheduled to Tuesday, *4 November* (and not the 5th).

Herr Kollege Uslu ist derzeit Gastwissenschaftler an der Universität Konstanz. Sein Forschungsschwerpunkt liegt seit Jahren im politischen Denken Lukács’. Kolleg:innen in und um Konstanz möchte ich das Kolloquium besonders empfehlen.

Freely available as a PDF on our website 💕 marxistiskestudier.com/danish-marxi...

Next Tuesday (5 November 2025, 17:00-18:30): A talk on "The Specificity of the Political: Georg Lukács’s Political Thought in the Post-Stalinist Ferment of Ideas (1956-1971)" @uni-konstanz.de Colloquium of Modern History.

Georg Lukács Commemoration Day in Heidelberg (Press Release)

We’re excited to announce the launch of our new website and the opening of the Call for Papers for Historical Materialism Istanbul 2026! Please visit our website here: www.hmistanbul.org

Coll: Colloquium Modern History https://www.hsozkult.de/event/id/event-158222 Konstanz, 21.10.2025-03.02.2026, AG Kolář, Universität Konstanz

‘Lukács Day’ has begun in Heidelberg. First stop: Keplerstr. 28, one of his residences in the city during the 1910s.

Upcoming on 4 November: www.geschichte.uni-konstanz.de/fach/vortrae...

The syllabus for my Winter semester course, “Work and Gender in Political Thought (18th–19th c.),” is now online: atesuslu.com/genel/syllab... For now, it includes only the main readings and will be expanded with additional materials throughout the semester.

István Mészáros is an underrated philosopher and this one is his most underrated book.

Very humbled to be shortlisted alongside such an impressive group of scholars

I'm sorry, worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable permission to my voice and likeness? For what now? In any manner for any purpose??? This is in academia/.edu's new ToS, which you're prompted to agree to on login. Anyway I'll be jumping ship. You can find my stuff at hcommons.org.

An entire day dedicated to Lukács - complete with conferences, walking tours, and lunch? In Heidelberg? That may sound like a Lukács scholar’s dream, but it’s reality. Heidelberg, October 21, no pre-subscription required. www.uni-heidelberg.de/de/veranstal...

Turkey restricts social media amid police blockade on opposition party bianet.org/haber/turkey...

Police use tear gas outside CHP office as court-appointed İstanbul leadership prepares to take over 🗞️Evrim Kepenek & Gülseven Özkan bianet.org/haber/police...

We are witnessing the destruction of the remnants of Turkey’s already agonizing parliamentary democracy, as police forces occupy the Istanbul headquarters of the main opposition party, firing tear gas and plastic bullets both inside and outside against party members, MPs, and protesters.

I'm finalizing the syllabus for a course on Work and Gender in Political Thought that I will be teaching at Konstanz University. About 75% of the course will consist of a critical analysis of canonical texts, ranging from Rousseau to Mill. Any suggestions for hidden gems in the secondary literature?

Join us to rethink the transformations and afterlives of ideas! #CfP