Today, for the series dedicated to the scientific achievements by our INVITE fellows continues, we read of Adriano José Habed.

I have been working on a philosophical/political subject, i.e., the role of critique in queer theory and the current discontents with it. In this sense my project is not as practical as others embedded in different disciplines.

I assessed a philosophical debate which is dominant in today’s humanities – whether critique has “run out of steam” or it is alive and kicking – and provided arguments for both the ongoing usefulness of critique and the warranted reasons for being dissatisfied with its application in the humanities – especially, in those fields related to gender and sexuality.

Because the questioning of critique is in essence the questioning of the role of the humanities at large in today’s world, the relevance of my research is connected to the place of the (critical) humanities in today’s academia as well as public sphere.

Adriano José Habed

Activities were certainly hindered by the pandemic, but I managed nonetheless to present my research in four international conferences, to organize three series of seminars at University of Verona, to be chair and discussant of five academic events, and to attend one summer school.