Jane Bennett (political theorist)

Jane Bennett
Born (1957-07-31) 31 July 1957
Nationality North American
Alma mater University of Massachusetts
School Speculative realism
Main interests
Political theory
Notable ideas
Vibrant matter

Jane Bennett (born July 31, 1957)[1] is an American professor at the Department of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Arts and Sciences. She is also the editor of the academic journal Political Theory.[2]

Bennett's work considers ontological ideas about the relationship between humans and 'things', what she calls "vital materialism",

"What counts as the material of vital materialism? Is it only human labour and the socio-economic entities made by men using raw materials? Or is materiality more potent than that? How can political theory do a better job of recognizing the active participation of nonhuman forces in every event and every stabilization? Is there a form of theory that can acknowledge a certain ‘thing-power’, that is, the irreducibility of objects to the human meanings or agendas they also embody?"[3]

In her book, Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things,[4] Bennett's argument is that, "Edibles, commodities, storms, and metals act as quasi agents, with their own trajectories, potentialities and tendencies."[5]

Public lectures she has given include "Impersonal Sympathy", a talk theorizing 'sympathy' in which she considered the alchemist-physician Paracelsus (1493-1541) and Walt Whitman's collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass.[6] In 2015 Bennett delivered the annual Neal A. Maxwell Lecture in Political Theory and Contemporary Politics at the University of Utah entitled “Walt Whitman and the Soft Voice of Sympathy.”

Education

Jane Bennett originally trained in environmental studies and political science. She then went on to Cornell University to study environmental science. After Cornell she studied political theory and gained her degree (magna cum laude) in 1979 from Siena College, Loudonville, New York. Whilst at Siena College Bennett met Kathy Ferguson. Bennett then went on to the University of Massachusetts and qualified as a doctor of political science in 1986.[5][7]

Fellowships

Bibliography

Books

Book review: Princen, Thomas (March 2011). "Critical Dialogue - "Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things." By Jane Bennett. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2010. 176p. $74.95 cloth, $21.95 paper". Perspectives on Politics. American Political Science Association via Cambridge Journals Online. 9 (1): 118–120. doi:10.1017/S1537592710003464. 
Bennett's response to five book reviews of Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things: Bennett, Jane (November 2011). "Author response". Dialogues in Human Geography. Sage. 1 (3): 404–406. doi:10.1177/204382061100100310. 

Edited books

Book chapters

Abridged version printed (along with an 'assignment') as: Bennett, Jane (2013), "Powers of the hoard: further notes on material agency", in Sutela, Jenna, Add metaphysics: essays and assignments, Aalto, Finland: Aalto University Digital Design Laboratory, pp. 52–67, ISBN 9789526049540  Open access link.

Journal articles

This article was a response to: White, Stephen K. (Spring 2000). "Affirmation and weak ontology in political theory: some rules and doubts". Theory & Event. Johns Hopkins University Press. 4 (2). doi:10.1353/tae.2000.0013. 
This article was in response to: Harman, Graham (Spring 2012). "The well-wrought broken hammer: object-oriented literary criticism". New Literary History. Project MUSE: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 43 (2): 183–203. doi:10.1353/nlh.2012.0016. 
and: Morton, Timothy (Spring 2012). "An object-oriented defense of poetry". New Literary History. Project MUSE: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 43 (2): 205–224. doi:10.1353/nlh.2012.0018. 

Blogs

Further reading

Interviews with Jane Bennett

References

  1. "Bennett, Jane, 1957-". Library of Congress. Retrieved 25 July 2014. Her Unthinking faith and enlightenment, c1987: CIP t.p. (Jane Bennett) data sheet (b. 7/31/57)
  2. "Political Theory: An International Journal of Political Philosophy". Sage. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  3. Khan, Gulshan (February 2009). "Agency, nature and emergent properties: an interview with Jane Bennett". Contemporary Political Theory. Palgrave Macmillan. 8 (1): 90–105. doi:10.1057/cpt.2008.43.
  4. " Strawberries on Life Support by Antónia Szabari & Natania Meeker". Los Angeles Review of Books]
  5. 1 2 Watson, Janell (October 2013). "Eco-sensibilities: interview with Jane Bennett". Minnesota Review. Duke University Press. 81 (1): 147–158. doi:10.1215/00265667-2332147.
  6. "CISSC Lecture Series: Jane Bennett, Johns Hopkins University: Impersonal Sympathy". Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture, Concordia University, Montreal. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Jane Bennett". Department of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  8. "Visiting Fellows and Other Visitors, 1991–2004". Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  9. "Visiting research fellows: previous visiting research fellows - Professor Bennett". Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ), The University of Nottingham. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  10. "Past visiting research fellows: Professor Jane Bennett (2010)". Birbeck Institute for the Humanities, University of London. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
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