Innovation Center, Saarbrücken, Saarland, Germany
This year’s annual lecture, titled “Repairing the irreparable? Culture and spoliation”, will be delivered by Prof Dr Gisèle Sapiro, research director at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and professor of sociology at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris, affiliated with the Centre de sociologie européenne. A recipient of the CNRS Silver Medal and a full member of the Academia Europaea, she is internationally recognised for her work in the sociology of literature. Her research explores the relationship between politics and literature, as well antisemitism and republican engagement, among writers in France; the structure of the intellectual field in Europe; and global inequalities in the translation, publication, and circulation of scholarly ideas and knowledge. Sapiro is a member of CURE’s Academic Advisory Board.
Repairing the irreparable? Culture and spoliation
Can we repair the irreparable? Can culture “repair” the violence of spoliation and dispossession, especially when it is accompanied by physical and symbolic violence, as has been the case with colonisation? This lecture will examine the conditions under which we might envision cultural practices of reparation: recognition of the violence and harm inflicted; recognition of the equality and diversity of cultures, in the anthropological sense; historical documentation of practices of spoliation and appropriation; and collaboration with intermediaries from the countries or groups that have been the victims of the spoliation The lecture will be held in English.
After the lecture, the new CURE fellows will present their research in German, English, and French. Selected from over 350 applicants by the Academic Advisory Board, this diverse group will engage with the centre’s 2025/26 theme “society”. Over the course of their twelve-month stay in Saarbrücken, the fellows will pursue individual projects related to cultural practices of reparation, contributing transdisciplinary perspectives from international research settings.
The evening will conclude with a reception, offering a chance to connect with the fellows and the centre’s team.
