Parole Text:Buch | Butler Trouble

Presentation of Butler Trouble (Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte issue XX/1, ed. by Eva Geulen and Carlos Spoerhase)

with: Diedrich Diederichsen, Petra Gehring, Thomas Meinecke, and Eva von Redecker

When Judith Butler described the Hamas attacks as “armed resistance” in Paris in March 2024, the global press was outraged. Criticism ranged from “disturbing coldness” to “intellectual capitulation.” However, this is only the latest in a long history of controversy surrounding Butler, who, since the publication of Gender Trouble in 1990, has been “much admired and much reviled.” Butler exemplifies what it means to be a global intellectual today, navigating between the academic complexity of highly specialized debates and achieving iconic status and worldwide circulation on YouTube. Butler is an international icon and star in some circles, a demonized figure in others. Neither of these portrayals is justified by her personality or her often challenging texts. Butler’s academic work cannot be assigned to any one discipline: from philosophy to rhetoric to the institutionalization of gender studies, her multifaceted work encompasses the theory of performativity, analyses of emotions such as grief and anger, readings of Kafka, and statements on the Middle East rooted in the history of ideas. The panel discussion approaches Butler from the perspective of the history of ideas and theory: not to smooth over controversies, but to put them in a new perspective with a view to the challenges and controversial manifestations of global intellectuality in the present.

Diedrich Diederichsen is a cultural theorist, author, and music and pop theorist. Since the 1980s, he has played a pivotal role in shaping German-language pop and cultural criticism, including as an editor at the music magazine Sounds and later as editor-in-chief of Spex. In his work, he combines reflections on pop music, art, politics, and social theory, analyzing cultural practices as forms of social expression. He has published numerous essays and books on the aesthetics and theory of pop culture, most recently Ästhetik im Planetarischen Zeitalter (Aesthetics in the Planetary Age, 2025). From 2006 to 2022, he was Professor of Theory, Practice, and Transfer of Contemporary Art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.

Petra Gehring is a professor of philosophy at TU Darmstadt. Her research focuses on the philosophy of technology, political philosophy, and legal philosophy. Her research focuses on issues of digitalization, normativity, and power structures in modern societies. She is the co-editor of several academic journals. Since 2020, she has led the Center for Responsible Digitalization (ZEVEDI), and since 2023,  she has been the principal investigator of the DFG research group “Standards of Governance.”

Thomas Meinecke is a writer, musician, and DJ. Since 1986, he has published numerous novels and short stories, most recently Odenwald (2024), and has been awarded the Kranichsteiner Literaturpreis and the Berliner Literaturpreis, among others. In his literary works, Meinecke often combines pop culture, gender discourse, and social analysis in experimental forms. Meinecke has served as a poetry lecturer and visiting professor at various institutions. He co-founded the band Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle (FSK) and has worked as a radio DJ and has released several solo albums.

Eva von Redecker is a philosopher and freelance author. She worked as a researcher at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and was a visiting scholar at Cambridge and the New School in New York. Her work focuses on critical theory, feminism, and critiques of capitalism and authoritarianism. Her research and publications focus on issues of property, freedom, and democratic practice in contemporary societies. Von Redecker writes for Die Zeit, The Guardian, and Philosophie Magazin, among others, and regularly participates in public debates. Her most recent publication is the philosophical essay Bleibefreiheit.