We are pleased to announce the international conference Between Life and Experience: Political Phenomenology and Italian Theory in Dialogue, taking place May 23–24, 2025, at the Fritz Thyssen Foundation in Cologne.
This event brings together renowned scholars to explore the conceptual and political intersections between political phenomenology and Italian Theory. It seeks to open a dialogue between these traditions around shared concerns such as temporality, subjectivity, crisis, and democracy — and to reflect on how their distinct approaches can inform one another in light of today’s global challenges.
Programme Overview
Friday, May 23
14:00 – 14:15
Registration & welcome coffee
14:15 – 14:30
Welcome address and opening
Thiemo Breyer & Marco Cavallaro
Panel 1: TEMPORALITY
Moderation: Thiemo Breyer
14:30 – 15:30
Thomas Bedorf: “Istituzione” and “Stiftung”: Roberto Esposito and Political Phenomenology
15:30 – 16:30
Ulrich van Loyen: The Void, the Celluloid. De Martino, Paci and the Temporality of the Apocalypse
16:30 – 17:00
Vanessa Ossino: Response & General Discussion
17:00 – 17:30
Coffee break
Panel 2: SUBJECTIVITY
Moderation: Marco Cavallaro
17:30 – 18:10
Elettra Stimilli: Subjectivity and Bodies between the Lifeworld and the “Outside” of History
18:10 – 18:40
Gerhard Thonhauser: Response & General Discussion
19:30
Conference dinner
Saturday, May 24
9:45 – 10:00
Registration & welcome coffee
Panel 3: CRISIS
Moderation: Sara Dameno
10:00 – 11:00
Dario Gentili: Non-Organic Crisis as an Art of Immune Government
11:00 – 12:00
Anna Pia Ruoppo: Crisis and Overcoming: The Ontological Phenomenology of Martin Heidegger
12:00 – 12:30
Eric Eggert: Response & General Discussion
12:30 – 14:00
Lunch break
Panel 4: DEMOCRACY
Moderation: Marco Cavallaro
14:00 – 15:00
Steffen Herrmann: Political Phenomenology as Field Research
15:00 – 16:00
Massimiliano Tomba: Politics in the Age of Its Technical Reproducibility: Thinking with Walter Benjamin
16:00 – 16:30
Michaela Bstieler: Response & General Discussion
16:30 – 16:45
Coffee break
16:45 – 17:15
Final discussion & farewell
Practical Information
Format: In-person
Language: English
Admission: Free
Registration: Please register by emailing sara.dameno@uni-koeln.de with the subject line: “Registration Conference 2025”
This event is made possible with the generous support of the DFG, the Husserl Archives Cologne, and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.