Patrick Boucheron (College de France): “Fear, a political history”

Beskrivning:

This lecture offers a political history of fear, from the Middle Ages to the present day. Engaging with Corey Robin’s work (Fear: The History of a Political Idea, 2004), it examines how political powers instrumentalize fear to foster obedience and undermine freedom. Through Lorenzetti’s fresco in Siena, Hobbes’s political thought, and contemporary images, it shows how fear can also serve as a source of democratic vigilance when redirected towards genuine threats: tyranny, the erosion of the common good, and the degradation of public discourse. Echoing Hélène Cixous, the lecture invites us to find the courage to be afraid without surrendering to panic.

Patrick Boucheron is professor at College de France. He graduated from the Ecole normale supérieure (ENS) Saint-Cloud, passed the agrégation in history, obtained a PhD and a professorship of medieval history at the University of Paris. He currently holds the chair of History of Powers in Western Europe, 13th-16th century at Collège de France.